Overlap [IC/PG-16/Accepting]

[Skaia 578]

Fen simply smiled at Fiona as the girl still seemed ready to go for another round of cards. Musing aloud at one of her comments, Fen said, "oh they change size? The magic used in this game is really something." The girl looked over to Melissa as she started stating her preferences as to what to do next, simply nodding along and having no issue with changing venues from the park to a cafe. The two of them had been out for awhile and having something to eat and being able to sit down while playing the card game sounded fun in its own quaint way. Though given the strange illusions that did appear she couldn't help but wonder if they would be disrupting everyone at the place they went to, but Fiona seemed to think it was fine so Fen was inclined to not worry too much about it. 

Melissa then went on to talk about some kind of bet, loser buys lunch and all. As she started to stammer after making the suggestion, however, Fen was taken a bit off guard by the girl. "Eh? Well, I uh, I mean I don't think being the leader has anything to do with it? Does it?" After a moment of thinking this over, the girl then cleared her throat saying to Fiona, "well, um, I'm not usually the most competitive type but that sounds fun, yeah. I'm still not entirely sure how to budget myself here in this world though so, well, maybe just drinks?" Looking back to Melissa the girl said, "oh uh, not to mean that I plan on losing or that you'll lose or anything, just, well you know?" 

[LordCowCow 840]

Café de Deux Contre Un

Fiona was tapping her foot as Melissa and Fen had an awkward-off, waiting for them to come to some sort of conclusion. Once they did, she looked to brighten. "Well, I would absolutely HATE to make my juniors pay for me, but, if you insist, we can make this a bit more exciting. Come on now, there's a place not too far from here."

As she walked she explained some things. "Most smaller places are actually in the lower level of the city, but they have some up here too. Guess the people up here want to stay up here as much as they can. There's really good stuff down there but I won't drag you that far, especially since you clearly want to get started soon as you can."

The place they entered was small, small enough they could see the entire place just from the entrance. The floor tiles were surrounded in a soft blue light and a similar light highlighted the counter to their right and ran across the ceiling as well. Soft electronic music played from what looked to be a jukebox near the door. On the right were several circular tables which were surrounded by a trio of cushioned, semi-circle, seats that looked like each could fit two or three people, with gaps between to step inside.

There was only three other patrons, one who looked to be laying across one of these seats, and two that were eating across from each using one hand as the other was occupied holding their partner's hand. At the counter was what appeared to be a large mass of vines with a couple of glowing eyes around where a head would be and a couple of, much less surprising in appearance, waitresses gossiped off to the side.

As Fiona entered she noticed the sleeping person and shook her head before moving on to the farthest table. "Alright well if you want to order now or before the game it's up to you, but just make sure you don't spill anything onto my cards okay?"

Spoiler

More details can be gotten and you can make up w/e you want with the waitresses and the couple. As for how this 2 v 1 goes, I have some idea but if either of you think it might work better a different way I'm open to discussion.

My thought is that Fiona would have 8K Life Points, both you would have 4K. One of you goes first, then Fiona, then the other of you, then Fiona. No one can attack on their first turn. Effects that effect one side of field effects both of the duo.

 

[radio414 907]

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
-Revelation 3:20 (NIV)

---

Fiona’s phrasing intrigued Melissa. “The Lower Levels” of the city especially. Ambrosia was largely a flat plane from what she could remember. You could climb up to a rooftop or radio tower or something and see far off into the distance. The sky was an artificial cutoff, of course. One could not get too high. Downwards, into the earth, had its own conspiracies, though, ranging from the outrageous like mole people who worship something called “the deep ones,” to the mechanically unsound like secret ADMIN databases as though the supercomputer didn’t already have access to every person in Ambrosia through their use of the duel disk system. Someone had to end up in the unenviable position of explaining just why you had to call the utility commission before trying to dig up “secret Protoambrosian treasure,” and that someone was frequently Melissa herself. “Maybe next time,” she said.

“I hope there is a next time,” she quickly added. Despite her best efforts, getting trapped in self-justification and awkwardness still shone through.

Still, Fiona’s choice of cafe seemed like a fine one. Being clean was the biggest factor in that evaluation, as was being mostly, though not entirely, devoid of people. Melissa could already see herself nestled into a corner, shoulder pressed against a wall as she thumbed her way through a well-worn theology text. Or play Duel Monsters, as the case may have been.

“Alright, well, if you want to order now or before the game is up to you,” Fiona said. “Just make sure not to get anything on my cards, okay?”

Melissa nodded. “I feel like we should justify our presence here at least a little bit,” she said. “We should probably order now.”

Of course, that had to come with its own set of problems. First Melissa had to decipher a brand new menu, searching for the drinks she was pretty sure they had but had to double-check, then balking at the sizes. They weren’t “Small, Medium, and Large,” as she expected, but “Smolbean, Blorbo, and Effervescent.” Worse, even a smolbean cup of coffee cost more than she expected. It wasn’t enough to make her worried about losing the duel (though she was not planning on losing!) but it was enough to give her pause.

Thankfully, the waitress was very patient as Melissa hemmed and hawed her way through the ordering process. Melissa made sure to give a decent tip at the end of it all, which eased her stomach back down somewhat. Would they forget about her sooner then? Or would she become one of the ones they gossiped about for months afterward? Even worse, as she tried to collect herself afterward, she realized she had forgotten something important: “I’m sorry, could I actually get a paper receipt?” Just in case. For proof purposes. Not that she didn’t trust Fiona to keep her end of the bargain, but it would be easier with this anyway.

After that, though (and another quick trip to the bathroom to, to put it mildly, “freshen up”), Melissa retrieved her drink -- quick service was another point in the cafe’s favor -- and sat down next to Fen and across from Fiona. Her deck was swiftly in her hand, her iced decaf mocha was on the floor to avoid disasters and had a lid on it besides… “Sorry, sorry,” she said. “I’m ready.”

[Skaia 578]

With the decision finalized, the trio made their way to a nearby cafe Fen was as well curious about the concept of shops on the lower level of the city. She hadn't really explored the city a whole lot up to this point and she hadn't even made it a point to check a map of the whole thing to get her bearings. As such she wasn't exactly sure if the "lower level" was actually something closer to an expression, similar to "downtown," or not. But if it wasn't then Fen did wonder just how deep this city went. 

Walking into the cafe, Fen found it to be a fairly quaint place. Small, cozy and not much going on in terms of patrons or the actual activities of the cafe as a whole. The one worker, the one large vine person, surely was curious but such sights were already not particularly out of place for her and the longer she stayed in this city the more common place such sight would be for her in general. With the group making their way over to a nearby table to get a seat first, the Fen nodded along with Melissa's suggestion. She was a bit afraid of getting her new cards messy though it was true that they were first time customers here and there wasn't many people here to begin with. So, doing what they were about to do, which was likely to be loud at that, without first ordering something was likely to draw the ire of the staff, which Fen had always wanted to stay clear of. 

Looking at the menu, there were many items that seemed new to her, some with names that seemed a tad unique to her, in addition to the sizes of the drinks themselves being something unique. All the same the girl had ordered her drink, some kind of smoothie that was a mixture of all kinds of fruits that was much a bigger size than what Melissa had gotten - not like Fen seemed to mind the size after the initial shock of it -, before sitting down with the others. Taking a sip here and there of her drink, once Melissa had come back the girl smiled and looked to Fiona, nodding saying, "oh, I am too." 

After a brief moment of pause Fen said, "well if it's uh, no problem then I'll take the first turn?" Placing her deck down and drawing her hand, then after a brief moment of standby she said, "I suppose...hm...let's see." The girl thought about it for a moment before saying, "I'll summon Inmato in Attack Mode. And then set one card face down. And uh, I think I'll go to the End Phase then. So, your turn Fiona." 

[Chaos Sonic 443]

A curious sight would behold Trevor when he arrived back at the team's humble abode...Bartleby, the Slakoth, was simply...roaming in a slow path...en route to, it seemed like the kitchen. The young sorcerer shook his head with a sigh, closing the door behind him. "Fret not, Bartleby, I shant interfere with your quest there." he gave a soft smile, simply nodding at the mascot creature as he took his leave from near the door. He found himself basically alone, save for the creature...which was a rare opportunity. Which now...he could do what he had been planning on.

"I believe it's time for a stake out and investigation..."

He felt his grimoire rising from his side, as it opened itself and flipped through pages. And what, pray tell, are you planning to stake out?

"Elementary, my leatherbound friend..." Trevor causally strolled through the place, arriving at a very familiar door to him. "This room in particular. I hope you recall the entry I put down within your pages about this very room?"

The oddly empty room?

"Correct...I believe that vision I witnessed means something, but never had a chance to properly investigate this room." he nodded. "Today has proved to be the perfect opportunity. With the ladies out, perhaps we can glean something from it. Granted, perhaps this was a one time thing...but perhaps not." he entered the room. "We are going to attempt to search every nook and cranny in this room...to ascertain the source of this vision."

And this "darkness" those in the vision spoke of?

"When the time comes, we'll get to that...until then, let's begin our investigation."

[LordCowCow 840]

That meant two against one cafe in french

“I’m ready.”

"Starting to think there's more I can teach you instead of Yu-Gi-Oh..." Fiona said, then shrugged. "Well, let's get started." Fiona took out her watch and a small projection appeared on the table. It was a grid which stretched out and covered all of their fields of play, indicating where the cards could be set.

When Fen put down her Monster a tiny holographic image of it appeared above the card. It wasn't quite as detailed as the larger ones but it still looked to move a bit on top the card.

"What a freaky thing..." Fiona muttered, using the Spike Brother's favorite word as naturally as she breathed. "Well, it does seem to be pretty strong though. I guess I should play it safe hm?" She smiled at Fen as she set down a Monster face-down in defense position. "And why don't I put something here too, just in case." She also put down a card in the spell/trap zone. "That'll be all for me, let's see what you've got then, Melissa." For a brief moment there seemed to be a glint in the girl's eyes as she looked towards her opponent.

---

Unusually Dark Room

When Trevor first went into the room, shutting the door behind him, he would find nothing different about it. It, as before, was empty. So empty that it was hard to even tell what the room was there for. There were lights and four walls. A floor and ceiling too. But beyond that there wasn't anything to see. No electronics, no outlets, no furnishing, nothing at all. As if it was a mere storage room that had nothing to store.

When he turned off the lights everything vanished from sight. Not one bit of light made its way into the room. All around him all he could see was that he could not see. Nothing else felt different, at least at first, but it was still strange to be left in total darkness.

And then there was something. A subtle shift that could entirely have been missed had one not been focusing. The floor felt different. More uneven. As though the flooring was gone.

And then there were the words. He didn't hear them. Not with his ears at least. Instead he heard them in his head in the voice that he heard when he read something to himself.

It is pitch black.

You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

[radio414 907]

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
-Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

---

Melissa wasn’t entirely sure what Fiona meant by there being more Fiona could teach her, but the game was quickly underway, so she was able to distract herself from overthinking that particular problem. “Uh, draw for turn,” she said. Of course, she was still trying to figure out the rules for this version of dueling, but she was getting there. “Well, first I’ll play this spell Terrors in the Hidden City, which is a Continuous Spell with three different effects -- one for my face-down monsters, one for monsters that are flipped up, and one when it's sent to the Graveyard. I can't attack this turn so I'll set a Monster, which, um, because of the first effect Hidden City, can't be targeted by any of your effects, and then I’ll set one more card face-down too.”

Fiona eyed Melissa’s board. “Oh, what a scary card, I wonder how I'll get over that…” She drew her card and smiled. “Well, I guess first thing’s first. I flip this Monster into Attack mode.” The monster took the form of an ant but with a cartoon bomb instead of an abdomen. Melissa had to read the card to actually remember its name: Self-Destruct Ant. She managed just in time before the bomb exploded in her face. “When it comes out, we each take one thousand damage. Sure I get a bit hurt but that's the price you pay I suppose.”

The exploding ant had reformed itself already and was now looking menacingly between Melissa’s face-down monster and Fen’s Inmato. But Fiona wasn’t finished. “I’ll also play this nice bunch: Goblin Attack Force!”

Melissa knew that one. Even when starting at eight thousand Life Points, she remembered it being a menace of the schoolyard before archetypes became too synergistic for it to keep up. With only four thousand, well, that just meant it was twice as bad, didn’t it?

“First I will have my Ant destroy that, uh, tomato!” Fiona said. The ant surged forward, though notably it didn't go into Fen’s field like their duel in the park, and chomped the air.

Fen looked at her face-down card, then back at her hand, then at her face-down again. “I, uh, I activate Reinforcements, to, well, reinforce my Inmato’s attack by five hundred.”

Fiona’s smile didn’t even waver, even as the image of the and shattered and she placed it in her Graveyard. “Ah well, my Ant is destroyed, but you still take a thousand damage for it thanks to its effect,” she said. “Your tomato’s not strong enough for my Goblins, though, so why don’t you take this one?”

That was where Melissa stepped in. “That’s a bit too much. I can respond here,” she said. “My face-down is Sol and Luna, which means my monster and your goblin are going to swap positions, basically. So yours goes to face-down Defense position and mine gets flipped face-up. My monster is Magician of Faith, which will allow me to get the Sol and Luna I just spent back to my hand. Also, uh, this is the second effect of my Hidden City card. Because Magician of Faith was flipped face-up, it gets an extra fifteen hundred Attack and Defense. I guess you could target it now, though, if you wanted.”

For a split second, Melissa felt Fiona glaring at her, though Melissa didn’t dare look up to see what her face was actually like. “Oh, what scary cards,” Fiona said again, as if a Magician of Faith could ever be scary. “I suppose set this card then and end my turn.”

Melissa looked over to her group leader and current duel partner, “Alright, then it’s your turn, Fen,” she said. “Remember, we know what that face-down is, but I can only try to guess at the other ones.”

---

OOC

Spoiler

Fiona: 1 Face-Down Monster (Goblin Attack Force (0 DEF))
2 Face-Down Spells and/or Traps
3 Cards in hand
6600 LP

Fen: 1 Inmato (1400 ATK)
4 Cards in Hand
2000 LP

Melissa: 1 Magician of Faith (1800 ATK)
Terrors in the Hidden City
4 Cards in hand (Sol and Luna + 3)
3000 LP

 

[Chaos Sonic 443]

Begin the Investigation!

The oddly empty room... Trevor closed the door to this room behind him, though nothing was different about it. He looked around this empty room...no electronics, nor outlets, nor furniture...just a floor, a ceiling, four walls and lights. He stood in the middle, looked around the room, before making a note in the grimoire...

---

Investigation of the Oddly Empty Room:
Four walls, lights, a floor and ceiling...no electronics, outlets, not even any furniture. The purpose of this room is still unknown...who were those ghostly apparitions I saw that first day? What were they talking about? What could I possibly do to recreate...?

---

Trevor paused for a moment, snapping his fingers a bit. "Of course, that's a way to potentially recreate the situation." he nodded, looking over at the light-switch by the door. "I believe we can get that if we simply just turn the lights off. What say you, my leatherbound friend?"

...blow me to Bermuda...are you actually attempting this?

"Do you happen to have a better option?" Trevor asked, looking down at the grimoire, who simply was flipping through it's pages and immediately closed and locked itself. "I'll take that as a no. The worst that could've happened today has already happened...we should be fine." He made his way to the light-switch and flipped it off immediately. When he turned off the lights everything vanished from sight. Not one bit of light made its way into the room. All around him all he could see was that he could not see. Nothing else felt different, at least at first, but it was still strange to be left in total darkness.

Truth be told, he knew this kind of darkness...all too well. This total darkness reminded him of the same type of darkness he experienced that day when he was struck by those Heartless back on his homeworld...the day he tried to access the Cabanomicon's advanced magic. It felt...natural around him...same time it also made his skin crawl to have to relive the memory of that and to have to relive his time in that cold darkness. It did feel natural around him...at least at first.

A subtle shift, he felt it immediately. The floor seemed...uneven...at the same time it just felt like it wasn't there at all. Curiouser and curiouser... he thought, wanting to move immediately to see what could be done, but he paused. Words... not heard by ear, but within his mind.

It is pitch black.
You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

A...grue? Trevor didn't exactly like the sound of that. But he figured the first thing was to lighten up the room. He immediately had his index finger with the red gemmed ring spark to life with a Fire Spell. It was going to be used as his light source...and apparently something didn't like it. He heard a sudden howling noise and something running off to the side away from the light. So something else was in here... But the baffling part was that from what Trevor could see now...the floor around him, was like that of a cave.

"Hmmm...perhaps that was the grue?" he muttered, noticing the small bit around him now seemed like that of a cave. "Hmmm..." Trevor took a step forward, unsure of what would happen. But the mysteries in life needed some sort of leap of faith to deal with it. He began to walk through the cave, though he could hear the sounds of gurgling...it was quite unsettling to say the least. From the ceiling, however, water dripped down onto Trevor's finger and extinguished the flame.

"...wonderful..." he sighed, before immediately having the flame spark back to life. Part of him wished he hadn't... When it sparked to life again, whatever was following him was closer...and had a face full of sharp teeth. As quickly as it was there, it scurried away once the light appeared. "...well then...that was charming." Trevor simply muttered. "I assume you must be this 'grue' I was recently told about." He sighed slightly, attempting to move forward some more.

Onward he went...further...further...further still. Until his journey brought him...to a dead end. A literal dead end. Bones lay broken, scattered along the cave's floor. A strong musty smell lingered in the air...it was most foul. "...this is quite the predicament...all this from a single empty room..." he muttered, before feeling a sudden wind blow behind him...and with that, his flame extinguished once more. Without the flame again, Trevor found himself in that total darkness...at the dead end of this cave.

Trevor didn't like this feeling...and he knew what awaited for him if he sparked the flame once more. However, he prepared himself this time. A quick casting of Aerora around him and then... "Firaga..." he muttered to himself, watching the flame on his index finger grow to a larger size than it had before. That's when he saw it...nothing but teeth. When the fire lit up the area right in front of his face was the creature's mouth. And then it, as before, ran off with a pained howl back into the darkness.

"I believe now it's time I take my leave...I'd rather not be this creature's next meal!" Trevor simply said, running back in the direction he originally came, doing his best to keep his way lit. He ran, and ran, splashing through puddles that he could only hope was water. The entire time he heard just outside the range of the fire a slathering gurgling noise. Just as he reached the other end of the cave, which instead of an opening he saw the door itself, a cascade of dirt and pebbles shook from the wall and douses the flame.

Trevor watched as the dirt and pebbles doused the flame, as he put his hand to the door. As he reached the door he heard something behind him. Claws scrapping against the floor. A deranged slobbering noise that got closer and closer. Then the door slid open with a hiss, light filtered into the room, and the noise vanished. The room was now just an unusual empty room again. And Bartleby lay in the hall in front of the doorway, one arm raised up as if it was about to touch the door.

"...Bartleby my slow moving companion...I don't think I've been happy to see anything else before." Trevor sighed, closing the door behind him. "A strange mystery that was...but alas, I believe I'll be sending our host a message about it. Perhaps she can tell us what we can do with it." And with that, he locked that door and immediately began to inform Mauvache of the oddly empty room.

[Skaia 578]

Fen nodded as Melissa made her comment about the face down before saying, "right well, my turn. Draw." A brief pause yet again. "Alright I will summon Nettles in attack mode. And...hmm...I suppose I'll go to my battle phase. Nettles, attack Goblin Attack Force. Or do I just call it the face down monster?"

"Heh, well it won't matter whatever you call it because I activate my trap!" Fiona revealed one of her two cards in the spell/trap zone, which turned out to be Final Attack Orders. As soon as the Monster flipped back face up it was forced into Attack Position.

"Oh, that is quite bad for me." Thinking on it for a moment she said, "oh, I can do this. I activate the spell card Rush Recklessly, since it is a quick play spell card which means I can play it now. Oh and Nettles too has an effect," the girl seemed excited, having barely used monster effects before, "which means I can sacrifice Inmato instead of letting it be destroyed." As her tomato was destroyed, the loss of life points was significantly lessened from the attack and her attacking monster had managed to stay alive. (Fen LP 2000 ---> 1600)

As her battle phase ended Fen mulled over her decision making, wondering if it had truly been the correct one before saying, "well, I don't think I can do much else. So I'll set two cards face down and end my turn."'

OOC

Spoiler

Fen: 1600 LP
Nettels  
1 card in hand
2 cards Set

Fiona: 6600 LP
Goblin Attack Force 
1 card Set and Final Attack Orders Face-up
3 cards in hand

Melissa: 3000 LP
Magician of Faith
Terrors in the Hidden City.
4 cards in hand

 

[LordCowCow 840]

We now return to our regularly scheduled broadcast

"Huh, well, yeah I guess those are plays you can make..." Fiona said as she drew her card. "And now here, Man-Eating Treasure Chest!" She then summoned a second Monster, which resembled some sort of jewelry box until it unhinged and revealed teeth and a tongue. "First I'll have my goblins attack your Magician of Faith."

The goblins moved forward and swung and destroyed the magician, dealing 500 damage to Melissa's Life Points. "My Monster's effect causes it to go into Defense Mode. But my Trap says otherwise, so these boys are back in Attack Mode and ready for round two. Or I guess round 3. But for now, my cute little treasure chest will attack that Plant. Hopefully this time..."

"Oh! I will activate, well, one of my trap cards, Plant Food Chain." The girl smiled as the trap card equipped itself to her monster, increasing its attack by 500.

"Oh my god not again." Fiona thought. Out loud she said "How many of those do you...and why are you so intent on saving that thing anyway? Arceus..." Fiona glanced at the cards in her hand and sighed. "Well, I suppose that'll be all for this turn, you're probably running low on surprises by now and my Monster is still the strongest on the field by far. Go ahead, your turn." She gave Melissa a strained smile.

Spoiler

Fen: 1600 LP
Nettels
1 card set and Plant Food Chain Equipped to Nettels.
1 cards in hand

Fiona: 6500 LP
Goblin Attack Force
1 card Set and Final Attack Orders Face-up
3 cards in hand

Melissa: 2500 LP

Terrors in the Hidden City.
4 cards in hand

 

[radio414 907]

And do not grumble, as some of them did -- and were killed by the destroying angel.
-1 Corinthians 10:10 (NIV)

---

Melissa eyed Fen’s cards with the same suspicion that Fiona did, but at least Melissa didn’t swear about it. For one thing, Fen had mostly managed her board state better than Melissa had. But she still had to do something. As she drew her card, she realized she could do a few things, actually. “Okay, I’ll set a monster here, and then activate this Sol and Luna we know about. It’ll flip my monster face-up and your Goblin Attack Force face-down again. I think I misspoke last time, sorry, um, my Magician of Faith should have been in Defense position before, but you played Final Attack Orders, so it all worked out in the end. This time, though, it’s this little guy.” She flipped the card over to reveal a Skelengel, whose Attack was boosted just as her Magician’s was by Terrors in the Hidden City. “And he has an effect that lets me draw a card, too.”

She dutifully obeyed the clause of Final Attack orders before drawing her card. Before she could do anything else, though, Fiona jumped in. “You can have your card, but there’s no way I’m letting you keep that monster,” she said. “By discarding this cute little monster, I can destroy your… angel.”

Fiona showed both Melissa and Fen her Ghost Ogre and Snow Rabbit, and it was Melissa’s turn to stare. She knew about hand traps, of course, but how many people actually played with them? It simply wasn’t done. Well, except for Kuriboh, of course, but that was a special case. Still, she dutifully put her Skelengel in her Graveyard and went back to staring at her hand. Without a normal summon, things just got a whole lot trickier. All of a sudden, Melissa felt extremely vulnerable. “I’ll set some more spells and traps, then,” she said. “Two of them. I guess that’s it for me.”

Fiona smiled, “Alright, draw-”

“Oh, but I do have an effect in your Standby Phase,” Melissa quickly jumped back in. “One of these face-downs is Acid Trap Hole, so we flip over your monster, and if its Defense is 2000 or less, we destroy it. Goblin Attack Force’s Defense is, uh, it’s zero, right?”

Gone was the smile. “Almost poetic,” Fiona grumbled.

Melissa didn’t know what that meant, but she nodded along all the same. “Sorry, um, you can continue with your turn now.”

Fiona looked back at Melissa’s empty board and that wide smile came back. “I’ll summon a second Self-Destruct Ant,” she said. “And I’ll play this Gaia Power, raising its attack to 2000.”

Melissa double-checked her Life Points. “Ah,” she whispered to herself. Fiona was coming after her after all, and in a way that technically kept her hostage in the game for as long as Fiona wanted. “Wait a second,” She reread Gaia Power and checked Fen’s board again. “Oh look, Fen, it affects your Nettles, too. It’s all the way up to 2200 Attack now.”

Of course, Fiona wasn’t attacking the 2200 Attack Nettels. “I’ll attack Melissa directly,” she said.

“Okay,” Melissa said. “But, um, the other Trap card I prepared was Waboku.” She revealed her other card, featuring maidens who some bully would have probably called Melissa’s long-lost sisters if Melissa ever frequented a public area where a bully might be present. They briefly materialized on the board with a heavenly song before disappearing, taking what remained of Fiona's battle phase with them.

Fiona’s eyes just narrowed. “Wow. I guess that’s all then. I end my turn.”

It wasn’t perfect, Melissa thought, but she was still in the game. It felt like they were on the cusp of, well, the cusp of something, at least. It was still possible that Fiona would just slam the door on both of them. Either way, Melissa still found herself enjoying it all, and she awaited the next few turns with bated breath.

Spoiler

Melissa: 2500 LP
Terrors in the Hidden City
2 cards in hand

Fen: 1600 LP
Nettels (2200 ATK)
Plant Food Chain, 1 Face-Down Spell/Trap
1 cards in hand

Fiona: 6500 LP
Self Destruct Ant (2000 ATK)
Gaia Power, Final Attack Orders, 1 Face-Down Spell/Trap
1 cards in hand

 

[Skaia 578]

"Right, well, um, my turn. Draw."  After a brief pause, Fen then looked at her cards for a moment  and then looked back to the field at hand. She was pretty sure things were looking pretty bad for them, and Melissa's field was wide open now with Fen not having any way to prevent a direct attack on the girl. Add to that while her Nettles was surely able to overcome the Ant, it would only put Melissa even closer to losing if the rest of Fiona's monsters were anything to go by. And Fen barely had anything in her deck to stand up to those things. It was then that the girl looked at the cards in her hand more closely before perking up, figuring she had something for this. "Oh, okay.  So, I summon Bacon Saver in attack mode. And well, now I have Nettles attack Self Destruct Ant." And so sentient grass destroyed the bomb ant. (Fiona LP 6500 --> 6300)

"Well, as my ant is destroyed, I will have it do 1000 damage to....how about you take it this time, Melissa?"

"Alright, that makes sense." (Melissa LP 2500 -> 1500)

"And so well, next Bacon Saver attacks directly." (Fiona LP 6300 --> 5600) 

"Next, I'll go and activate my spell card Mystik Wok. So, Bacon Saver is tributed to give me 700 life points." Placing the two cards in the grave and having her Life Points raise in turn the girl said, "and uh, yeah, that's my turn." (Fen LP 1600 --> 2300) 

Fiona drew a card and before even looking at it said "Well first of all, I play Pot of Avarice. Bringing these Monsters back into my deck, and then drawing two more cards." She then looked at her cards and smiled. "And now I summon her, Traptrix Atrax. With Gaia Power out this little angel has 2300 Attack." She glanced over at Fen, and frowned a moment, before turning her gaze to Melissa. "Now lets see what happens when I attack Melissa directly."

“Oh, well I activate my Bacon Saver. Who uh, negates your attack.”

"How shocking." Fiona said with a sigh. "I will set one card and that will be that. Oh, what a scary situation I've found myself in."

Fen for her part smiled earnestly, her plan having gone off without a hitch and looking to Melissa as if to tell her that she had her back. 

OOC

Spoiler

 

Fen: 2300 LP
Nettels. 
1 card set and Plant Food Chain Equipped to Nettels.
0 Cards in Hand. 

Fiona: 5600 LP
Traptrix Atrax
2 cards set Set Final Attack Orders and Gaia Power Face-up
1 card in hand

Melissa: 1500 LP

Terrors in the Hidden City Face-up.
2 cards in hand

 

 

[radio414 907]

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”
-Ezekiel 11:19-20

---

Melissa returned Fen’s smile and gave her a small thumbs up. She knew who to thank for being still in the game after getting utterly exposed last turn. She’d managed to hide it, but the moment that Self Destruct Ant came out, Melissa had fully accepted her defeat. Not that she could do much as it stood with her current hand. She needed to draw something truly spectacular to crawl back into the game.

“Draw- oh.”

Well, that could do it. It certainly solved a number of her problems at once. “I’ll activate Change of Heart targeting your Traptrix Atrax,” Melissa said. She could feel Fiona’s stare burning a hole into her forehead, but she tried her hardest to keep her focus on the board. “Do you mind if I touch your cards? Actually, it doesn’t matter. I can have it, uh,” She accidentally glanced upwards and had to take a moment to compose herself. “It’ll attack you for twenty-three hundred and then for my Main Phase Two, I’ll tribute it for this face-down monster, and I’ll also Set the last card in my hand in the Spell or Trap Zone.”

Fiona’s Life Points dropped to 3300, and she wordlessly took her Atrax and placed it in her Graveyard. Melissa looked up again, and her eyes had narrowed, as if she was trying to sus out something about Melissa. But Melissa didn’t even know what she could be hiding outside of the known unknown information in play, so she didn’t even have to try to keep a poker face, she just had her normal face.

When Fiona drew her card, her expression changed. She was smirking again. “Well, look who came back,” she said. “It’s my Goblin Attack Force again, only this time, it has 2800 Attack thanks to Gaia Power. And I’ll use that attack on Nettles.”

Melissa’s face-down was no help here, and neither was Fen’s, apparently, so both of them could only watch as the goblins crashed into the nettle plant for 600 damage, sending Fen down to 1700. “Finally,” Fiona muttered as the hologram and the Trap card attached to it got sent to the Graveyard. She then set the last card in her hand and ended her turn.

It felt like the momentum had shifted, but with so many Traps in play (or Quick-Play Spells, couldn’t forget about those), there were still so many ways this could go wrong. Judging from what Fiona had played so far, nothing was off the table. But with so few cards in everyone’s hands and dwindling Life Point totals, it wasn’t like they could spend time playing around imagined scenarios. They just had to seize forward on any weakness they could. “Alright, Fen,” Melissa said, “I hope you can make this turn count.”

Spoiler

Melissa: 1500 LP
0 cards in hand
1 monsters set
Treachery of the Hidden City, 1 spell/trap cards set

Fen: 1700 LP
0 cards in hand
0 monsters
1 spell/trap cards set

Fiona: 3300 LP
0 cards in hand
Goblin Attack Force
Gaia Power, Final Attack Orders, 3 spell/trap cards set

 

Edited October 28, 2023 by radio414

[Skaia 578]

With the turn having been passed to her Fen said, "well, my turn." The girl looked at the only card in her hand and figured that there was no reason not to play it. "I summon Papa-Corn. And it gains 1000 attack points because there is a field spell on the field." The sentient corn man huffed as the dagger he was wielding extended into a full blown sword, his attack spiking from 1200 to 2700 attack. Fen hadn't done the math wrong, with her monster being just 100 attack short of beating the Goblin Attack Force, and she didn't really have a way to further it either. But she figured having something this threatening looking was better than just defending and passing anyway. "Uh, I end my turn."

Fiona draws. She looked at her card and let out a sigh. "Finally, this'll work. I think you've held onto that spell long enough, Melissa. So I activate Double Cyclone. By targeting one of my spells and one of yours I can destroy them both. So I choose Terrors in the Hidden City and my face down, Anti-Magic Arrows."

"Terrors in the Hidden City has a bonus effect, though," Melissa said. "When it's destroyed, I get to Special Summon a monster from my graveyard to face-down Defense Position. I'll choose, um," after a moment of deliberation Melissa continued. "I'll choose Magician of Faith," Melissa said, sliding the face-down card down onto the board. 

"Yeah yeah well that's enough. Now I activate Acid Trap Hole, and target the face down you summoned on your turn."

"Ah, I see why you said that earlier," Melissa said. "Yes, you got my Magician of Faithfulness."

Fiona glanced between the two players, specifically at their face-downs, then shook her head. "Well, guess we'll see. I attack your...Corn."

"I think I should hold onto this just in case," Melissa said, "Sorry, Fen" 

"Oh it's quite alright." Fen removed the card from the field as her life points were whittled down a bit. (Fen LP 1700 --> 1600) Truthfully she had been hoping to take some of the pressure off Melissa anyway. After all, she couldn't do anything about the goblin attack force on the field and figured that Melissa having more monsters on the field was better than her. And so Fiona's turn had come to an end and passed back to Melissa. 

OOC

Spoiler

 

Fen: 1600 LP

1 card set 
0 cards in hand

Fiona: 3300 LP
Goblin Attack Force
1 card Set Final Attack Orders and Gaia Power Face-up
0 cards in hand

Melissa: 1500 LP
Magician of Faith face down
1 card set. 
0 cards in hand

 

 

[radio414 907]

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
-1 John 4:4 (NIV)

---

Fiona had systematically dismantled Melissa’s board, but Melissa took heart in the fact that she had been in worse spots this game. In fact, there was still the potential for a winning line if Fiona’s single Set Spell/Trap card wasn’t something she could use. “I’ll draw,” Melissa said. Yes, that would do. “First thing’s first, I’ll Flip Summon this Magician of Faith you already know about, which will allow me to return this Change of Heart from my Graveyard to my hand. I suppose the next thing to do would be -”

She almost slammed down the Change of Heart immediately, but managed to hold back at the last second. If Fiona’s last trap did, in fact, disrupt this line, she didn’t want to lose the card. A better order of operations would be, “The next thing I’ll do is play Tsukuyomi. This one’s got a lot of text because it’s a Spirit, but for the time being, the only thing that happens is it lets me turn this Magician of Faith back down.”

Just as she did so, she looked up to see Fiona smile and flip over her trap. In fact, it was a rather iconic one: Trap Hole. It would never matter what else her Tsukuyomi did now, it was destroyed and the winning “attack directly for a bunch” line was suitably shattered. Things weren’t hopeless now, but Fiona did have a chance to eliminate one of them. But, Melissa thought, maybe she thought she was winning here and now, so maybe she could make a mistake? “Alright,” she said. “I guess I’ll just pass the turn, then.”

Fiona drew her card and her smile grew wider. “Looks like we’re hitting the end, huh?” she said. “Not a bad way to end it. I summon Traptrix Myrmeleo and use it to get Adhesion Trap Hole from my deck.”

Melissa had to pause to read Adhesion Trap Hole. There were so many Trap Hole types (Traptrix was a whole archetype that supported them!) that it would be easy to forget one at the wrong time. She was more concerned with the Monster, though. Fiona went to her Battle Phase and…

…And she pushed Myrmeleo Fen’s way. Melissa couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Fen was defeated, yes, but she had perfect information now -- including information Fiona did not. She still tried to commiserate her friend, teammate, and leader, though. “Sorry, Fen, I can’t save you from two potential direct attacks,” Melissa said.

Fen looked at the board, then her Life Point total, then her facedowns. “Oh, I suppose I lose,” she said. “I’ll activate my Trap Card, then. Just Desserts.” Fiona had two monsters, and so took 1000 damage, dropping her to 2300. Then Fen just returned Melissa’s gaze. “I wish you the best, Melissa,” she said.

Melissa’s slight nod and grin were even slighter than she expected at the play. If she’d had that information, she certainly would have attacked sooner, playing for the Desserts to give them that extra bit of reach they needed to close out the game. They could have had a joint victory, then! Was it something they had to talk about later? Team communication?

Fiona snapped her out of her haze. “Going down swinging, huh?” she said. “Well, it’s just you and me, then, and time for my goblins to have a turn.”

Now Melissa was as efficient as possible. These movements were how she remembered playing the game. “I’ll activate a face-down too,” she said. “It’s Book of Moon, which will change your Goblin Attack Force to Face-Down Defense position.”

“Hmph,” Fiona said. Melissa wasn’t sure if she saw was she was about to do or not. Maybe she was going down swinging too. “Fine, I’ll set this card and end my turn.”

“Draw,” Melissa said, but she barely looked at it. Doriado? As good a card as any. “Okay. Change of Heart your Monster, Flip Summon Magician of Faith to get it back, Change of Heart your other Monster, Flip Summon your Goblin Attack Force… I think even if you activate your Adhesion Trap Hole, that’s still, uh…”

Four thousand and fifty.

“That’s still four thousand and fifty damage coming your way,” she said. She waited a moment for Fiona to acknowledge the sequence, but she also knew there wasn’t anything left to do but that. “Um, good game,” she said. “Your deck seems really strong. I don’t think I’d keep up as well if there weren’t two of us. You don’t have to buy my lunch or anything. It was a silly bet, that’s all.

“Um,” She started scooping up her cards, bracing herself in case Fiona was as sore a loser as the Spike Brothers she led.

[LordCowCow 840]

There was a tense silence as Fiona looked over the game board and thought about how the match had gone. How, had she just went for Melissa full force, she might have won. It was annoying. And embarrassing. And even more annoying still.

Still she was silent as she gathered up her cards. Once she had she looked up at Melissa and had perhaps the most forced smile the girl had ever seen on her face. "Well...good job. I guess that's what happens in a two on one match huh? Didn't expect someone new to figure out a plan like that. Had to use my own cards against me too. You understand how strong my cards are at least."

She then stood up abruptly. "Well. I should get going. Make sure those idiots aren't getting into too much trouble." They could see the girl's clenched fists and had to wonder what might happen to the Spike Brothers after this.

Fiona began to leave, the fake smile still plastered on her face, then she paused. She put a hand into her pocket and pulled something out before tossing it onto the table, perhaps with a bit more force than necessary, in front of the two. "Make sure you get stronger before I duel you one on one wouldn't want to make a fool of yourself too badly." She then marched off.

As she passed the last table the sleeping girl sat up and said "Ohey Fiona....bye Fiona." as the purple haired girl ignored her and kept going. The formerly sleeping girl looked over at the duo, gave a half smile, tilted her head in confusion, then lay back down presumably to go back to sleep.

When they looked at what Fiona had dropped they saw that it was two packs of cards.

Spoiler

So it's largely up to you how much more you do with the day and what information you want to get. If you want to just interact with each other a bit or whatever the case may be. Just be sure to mention what you intend/hope to do next.

 

[radio414 907]

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
-James 1:17 (NIV)

---

It was better than Melissa had expected, at least. That could be said for a lot of things, but first and foremost it was for Fiona’s eventual reaction. She’d gone through a wide range of emotions, but she pretended to be a graceful loser, and in the end, her actions mattered more than what was going through her head. The same, of course, could not be said for Melissa herself, who was already mentally reprimanding herself for feeling so much pride over her victory. It didn’t matter what she did, because she knew she could potentially feel differently.

The feeling did not dissipate, though. Melissa couldn’t help it. Both she and Fen had fought hard for their victory. “Good game,” Melissa said to Fen as well. “Like I said, you had to save me more than once there -- I’m sorry I wasn’t able to return the favor in the end. But that’s Duel Monsters- er, that’s Yu-Gi-Oh! and that’s how serious some people can get about it, including, I guess, me at the end there. Um.” Technically, she was an entertainment duelist in training, but in the heat of the moment, she had regressed into that old “get this over with as fast as possible” style. Maybe some of that had been purposeful. After all, she didn’t want to make it seem like she was slow-rolling a victory, pretending like she couldn’t see a line.

“I hope you had fun through all of that,” Melissa said. “It was… It was interesting to see all these old cards again. I already have some ideas for what I want to do with my deck. Back on my world, it was more acceptable to purchase single cards instead of cracking packs and hoping, but let’s see what Fiona gave us.” She adjusted her chair and remembered her coffee, taking a sip of it before picking up one of the packs and examining it in her hands. Everyone she knew had a different way to crack a pack. Melissa’s preferred method was to tug at the little crease at the top and pull it apart like it was a bag of chips. It didn’t always work, but this one came apart easily enough.

As expected, most of it was chaff. Vanilla monsters that didn’t even have better stats than the ones already in her deck, some spells like Moonyan Curry that were outclassed by, like, five other cards Melissa could think of off the top of her head (and she wasn’t about to play any of those cards either). There was one that did catch her eye, though. “Master of Ham… This could fit in your food deck,” Melissa joked as she pulled the card in front of it away. Then she saw the art. “Oh, it’s ‘Ham’ for ‘Hamster.’” It had an interesting effect, but she had neither the Polymerization nor the Beast monsters required to summon it. “I suppose we should hold onto whatever we can get right now,” she said.

They stayed a bit longer there in the café together, finishing up their drinks and talking if either of them cared for talking more, but Melissa’s thoughts drifted back to their apartment in general and Bartleby in specific. “I hope he hasn’t gotten into any trouble in our absence,” Melissa said. “And Trevor is surely finished with his errand, maybe he went back as well if he didn’t have anything else to do. I’d like to explore the other parts of the city that Fiona mentioned, but that should probably be another day.” She stood up and pushed in her chair. “Shall we?”

[Skaia 578]

With Fiona having lost and Melissa having pulled off a win of her own, the girl looked at the card pack that was forcibly put on the table for them. Fen looked to the door as Fiona made her exit, having done her best to not say anything about the girl's temperament the whole time, now saying, "oh, well, that was nice of her." Picking up the pack Fen truly didn't know what to make of the duel, as it was certainly different then what she had experienced when playing against the Spike Brothers. Melissa had mentioned that she had saved her partner a number of times during the duel but Fen couldn't help but feel that it was more the reverse. "Well, if not for you I uh, I don't think I would've made it past her first monster." At the end of the day it was a team match and they did win through some degree of teamwork. But still that remorseful feeling of being more a weight than a help persisted and this was only compounded by her not even being able to have made it to the very end of the duel. Still, "I would say I had fun, yeah. In fact," looking at the card pack in her hand, a glint was in the girl's eyes. A feeling similar to when she had fought Kelsey in fact. A bigger smile appeared on her face as she said, "I'd love to play them again."

The girl then went to open the pack saying, "oooooh," in awe. This was more so at the card arts themselves then the actual cards, as she had no real idea what the value of most of these generic monsters in her pack were. But one card looked particularly interesting in her set. "Oh, it's like Sparks." The girl seemed to be genuinely happy as she showed the card, Hinotama, to Melissa. "Well, maybe I shall uh, add this to my deck later." 

After spending some more time with Melissa the girl nodded, "it is a big city after all, so perhaps it would be best to, well, take it one step at a time or such to explore it. Let's head back." The girl got up from her chair and left with Melissa. 

[LordCowCow 840]

Trevor's words remained in Mauvache's messages without any sort of indication of reception for some time. Were he to check it later he would see that it had been "seen" but no response to it was given.

When the duo returned from their triumph Bartleby would greet them warmly. Or rather he would expend the energy to crane his neck and look at them for a while before letting out a low "Slaaaa...." sound.

Eventually the next day would come and with it....not much else. At least not at first. A news story would at some point appear on their watches about "Fact or Fiction: Are the rumors of giant skeletons seen prowling the graveyards at night real, fake, or something even more sinister....a prank show?" However they didn't seem to get any indication from Mauvache if this was something they had to deal with and any further investigation would show this had been happening every few days for the past month.

What happened next was fully in the four new Guardian's hands. Yes, four, not three. For it seemed that destiny was trying to bring their fourth member back to them after their harrowing underwater journeys. Whether destiny succeeds or not is not in its hands. However this didn't stop the group from doing what they wanted with that morning.

Spoiler

It's not much of a post in part because Doggo mentioned being able to return but I want them to be able to write their return how they wish and when they wish.

If not obvious there is a thing planned for the day but it's meant to be later in the day and I didn't want to rush right to it.

Of course I can give more things if you ask. If you want interactions with other NPCs, or some other such event, remember that I'm running this mostly as a "make it up as I go along" as far as what happens when.

 

[radio414 907]

It had only been a half-day’s worth of activities, but Melissa was still glad to return to the apartment. Some of the day's events had turned out to be quite harrowing, and Melissa needed some time to recover. The other feeling she’d had was worry, just thinking about how Bartleby had handled the place by himself. Perhaps such a feeling was unfounded, but he did turn out to be mobile after all, even vocal at Fen’s and her return! It was practically cause for celebration, as Melissa scooped Bartelby up into her arms and carried him around the apartment. She did notice his occasional longing glance at the kitchen, though, and chided him accordingly. “You’ll get your food at dinnertime,” she said. “The person at the store and the instructions on the bag say the same thing. It’s all measured out.” It didn’t stop Bartleby’s wanting, but saying it out loud did help reinforce the schedule to herself. Like all pet caretakers, she wanted to give him a little something, you know, as a treat. Maybe someday, but she wanted to be disciplined for the time being.

That night, Melissa placed her new Duel Mon- her new Yu-Gi-Oh! deck, box and all, including the chaff, in her bedside table drawer and lay awake looking up at the ceiling. Her mind whirred at just how similar the world of Prana was to her own, and yet still uncannily different in so many ways. She wondered when the inevitable screw-up was going to happen, that she would make a mistake and it would be meaningful somehow. Socially, perhaps she could fall back on her status as a Guardian, or even use that as a defense, because of course she still didn’t get it, why would she? But there was potential for her to suffer a real, physical cost because of something like this. She didn’t see it, but as she learned from her training with Rei, just because she couldn’t see it yet did not mean it wasn’t there.

It took a while, but she eventually drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

---

“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place?”
-Job 38:12 (NIV)

---

Despite her watch flashing a news report about skeleton attacks, Melissa wasn’t exactly hurrying to get out of bed. There were no blaring alerts. Mauvache had said nothing yet. But tried not to laze about. Instead, Melissa’s movements were more of a deliberate slowness, savoring the morning as best she could. She’d heard that pets and owners slowly adapted to each other, owners becoming more like their pets and vice versa. Perhaps there was an element of truth to that. When she got downstairs, though, the lack of anybody else suggested she was the first one up, which implied differently.

She checked on Bartleby, who was also sound asleep, and went over to the kitchen to make breakfast. Just something she could throw together, she thought. Maybe some toast, with butter and jam? That and some tea sounded nice.

As her slices of bread magically turned into toast, accursed thoughts crept in. There was something ominous about skeletons. Maybe that was just the fact they were skeletons -- they were perfectly natural parts of the body until they were outside of you and still moving around. Melissa couldn’t help but wonder if there was a reason the news was investigating that, from the headlines, still was just speculation at this point. But she was able to keep such idle ruminations at bay a little longer for now, at least unless everyone else came down and started talking about it too. She hoped there would be something else to distract them so they wouldn’t, but could only guess as to what that could even be.
 

[Chaos Sonic 443]

Trevor did indeed glance to check that message he sent Mauvache, but much to his dismay...it was only read as "Seen"...no response. Part of him did have to wonder if their esteemed hostess was taking their inquiries and issues seriously or not. It was a fleeting thought, however, due to the fact that he happened to hear Bartleby giving the ladies who returned a greeting. He figured he'd ask them how their adventure found them and inform them of his own situation in the morning...

After all...after dealing with a "grue", one would be quite exhausted.

---

The next morning brought the same thing like it did every morning here...but Trevor did notice his watch go off, providing an interesting little story: "Fact or Fiction: Are the rumors of giant skeletons seen prowling the graveyards at night real, fake, or something even more sinister....a prank show?". And unfortunately, there was no indication from the esteemed hostess about if they needed to do anything in regards to it. Seemed she had been quiet last day or so anyway...it puzzled the sorcerer, but he shrugged it aside for the time being.

For now...he needed a cup of coffee to at least start his day. So down to the kitchen he went...and lo and behold, he found Melissa already there.

"Good morrow, Melissa." Trevor gave a slight tip of his hat, walking near the coffee maker and proceeded to finagle himself a cup of coffee...once he had the coffee cup float itself to his hand. "I must apologize for not being able to accompany you on yesterdays endeavors. The issue with the team name did prove to be...slightly annoying. Perhaps next time, we should just send a message in regards to that."

The grimoire slowly floated upwards, flipping through pages as it had the following words appear for Melissa to read: "A quite strange character we did encounter...along with the local authorities, who seem to not like any of Mauvache's guardians."

"Sad but true...that and..." Trevor took a long sip of his coffee, before pointing to that one room. "That room is a strange one for sure...may I suggest that you never go in without the light on, less you be sought after by a grue. Strange things are afoot with that room specifically...but I digress. How did you and Fen fair yesterday?"

[Doggo 218]

Outside Team Bartleby's home away from home came the excited flopping sound of fins slapping the pavement. Unusual perhaps but not a first for these parts though it had been some time. The door to the apartment building burst open revealing Aduain, freshly returned from the oceanside city, to all of nobody in the entrance way. That wasn't super unusual. Everyone had a room, it was morning. Sleep or food were believable enough distractions. The fish boy took in a deep breath through the gills at his sides before letting it out and looking the place over. No immediate changes. It had only been a day so that was to be expected. But given the way they could customize rooms for some of their pay he had been hoping someone on the team had bought something silly.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeey! Team?" Aduain happily shouted into the room trying to guage where people were. The only thing he had on his person was his familiar weapon though right now it was conspicuously across his shoulder with a large bag tied to the end of it. After shouting he set the whole improvised backpack affair onto the nearby table. The watch's notifications about potential skeletons seemed exciting but it wasn't quite enough to distract him from opening the bag to ready the souvenirs he'd gotten for everyone. A large apple-looking type fruit that was a shade of green the fish had never seen before, a bizarre trading card from a game he had little knowledge of, a book or two, and several simple wooden boxes of traditional Prana seaside cuisine were soon unpacked. The apple was for Bartleby though seeing the creature asleep he decided it better to wait for it to wake to present the gift. The rest he hadn't entirely settled on.

"Hopefully everyone likes the food. They got some weird fish out there. Tasty, but weird. If someone knows what the card's from that's easy. Maybe I shoulda actually read these books before gettin' em." The boy casually narrated his thought process while looking over his bounty. One book was thicker and without title. Only upon opening it did Aduain realize the people had gifted him a copy of some of their holy texts. "Ohhhhh that makes a lot of sense." Aduain's epiphany came quickly. The town he'd been sent to was a lot more simple in its construction than the city they currently resided in. And the people had reflected that simplicity, many of them content to work their jobs and worship an ancient Dragon deity of some kind. The most prominent structure in the town had been a shrine to said Dragon. Aduain had even gifted his hat (pair of shorts) from Mauvache as a tribute and while those attending to the shrine had seemed confused they had thanked him for his generosity and had gifted this book in return.

This brought Aduain's attention to the second book. It was much smaller and paperback and opening it revealed it to be some sort of comic book. That was exciting enough and the fish began flipping through it casually to see if he could judge whose tastes it might fit. Pausing somewhere in the middle his eyes widened and he shut the book quickly before wrapping it back up in the bag he'd held everything in. "Heh, maybe that one just goes upstairs with me." he said nervously. This was a very naughty book and probably didnt make for a great gift. But that was okay there was still the food to go around. All kinds of sushi preparations that even now tempted his rumbling stomach. But it would be better to eat a shared meal for sure so he was willing to ignore it for now.

The goods secured it was time to find his teammates for real this time. Shouting could only get one so far after all.

[Skaia 578]

Fen found herself getting out of bed rather easily, getting ready to prepare herself for whatever the next day had to offer. Her morning, though, was greeted with a new story about some kind of skeleton sighting by a graveyard. Skeletons and graveyards often went hand in hand with one another and one of the earlier missions she had heard about involved such a thing as well. Giant skeletons, however, was more worrisome. Though it didn't seem to be some kind of invasion, as they hadn't received any real alert to go deal with it, Fen was still concerned by the sighting especially if it was something that was both not an invasion but also not common place. Regardless, the girl got out of bed and made a note to check on it later. 

Looking at her watch, she thought about what exactly she should do today. There wasn't anything pressing to take care of, they were well stocked enough in their pantry and all that left was to go explore the city some more. Though, doing so by herself would be a bit daunting and lonely at that, so she would have to go with someone else. She could invite both Melissa and Trevor to come along, though both of them were newcomers to this as well so it would've perhaps been better to have a guide of sorts. That left a few people that she knew but only two of which she had the contact information for. Fiona had reached out to have a fun time yesterday so the timing to ask her had already passed and there was a part of Fen that figured she was the last person that Fiona wanted to see today. So, all that was left was Kelsey. 

Looking at her watch, scrolling through the various functions she managed to get her way back to her contact list and find the girl's name. And then she waited for a moment. Fen had always been in the habit of accepting invitations instead of actually sending them out, always happy to go along with others tasks but fairly reluctant to actually things of others. So, a part of her was hoping that some cosmic coincidence would occur in which Kelsey would message her at this very moment in order to hang out for the day without any social effort on Fen's part. Unfortunately the universe was not so kind as to provide this to the young hunter. No, this was something she had to do on her own and just as she had wanted to assume the mantle of leadership for their team, she similarly would have to put herself out there in order to change. So she opened up her messages. 

Fen had been quite experienced in writing letters. She handled a good deal of clerical work for the guild as her seniority increased and also translated this to helping out on the business end with her family's restaurant. So she pondered for a moment before sending her message. 

Good Morning Kelsey,
I hope this letter finds you well on this day. 
I had been wanting to explore the city but am currently lacking in a guide to go see things. As such, I was wondering if you would like to offer your seniority and experience on the matter to aid me today. The actual contents of where to go do not matter to me, simply that I wish to learn more about this city that I currently live in. If you are busy at this current time that is quite alright with me as well, and I would instead just ask when, if any, time would be good for you. 
Thank you for your time and consideration, 
-Fen Yi. 

"And send." Fen let out a sigh of relief as she did so, having managed to actually use her watch in such a way. There was a part of her that was still on edge, worrying if she had actually achieved what she wanted to with how she used the device, but only time would tell. For now, she would go meet with everyone downstairs. 

---

"Good morning, Trevor and Melissa." The girl smiled and waved as she entered the dining area. Hearing Trevor's question the girl answered, "oh yesterday was wonderful. I learned about this new card game called Yugioh that, well, Melissa herself seems fairly well acquainted with. We even had a match against Fiona though, I'm uh, I'm afraid I might've just been weighing her down." Seeing the others having already helped themselves to some food, Fen began to go and get something for herself when she heard an unexpectedly familiar voice echo throughout the building.

Walking over to where it was coming from, her face lit up as she said, "Aduain! I wasn't expecting you to be back so soon. How uh, how was your trip? Oh, wow, you seem to have a lot on you." The girl walked over and saw what he had, seeing several boxes of cuisine and said, "oh, everyone's just about starting their day off so you came at a perfect time." Looking at the rest of the gifts, her eyes went over to the card that he had brought along with him, and after a moment said, "do you uh, do you also play Yugioh?" 

[radio414 907]

“‘Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”
-Luke 15:23-24 (NIV)

---

“How are you?” Melissa thought as she idly stirred a cup of tea.

What do you mean?

Melissa flinched. “I don’t know. I’m just trying to be a courteous host,” she thought. ‘If there is anything that I can do…”

We are well. Your continued survival is all that we require.

“Okay.” She said that one out loud, though it wasn’t any louder than a mumble.

If we may ask, what brought this on?

Melissa thought, “I guess- I know it’s been less than a week, but I’m still trying to figure out our relationship. We agree to speak to each other more and then that doesn’t happen. We didn’t meet in my dreams last night either. And that’s fine, but I worry. Trevor’s got this whole thing going on with his book, are we supposed to be like that?”

Trevor also implies he is still an apprentice, and his grimoire is his teacher. You believe in guardian angels, do you not?

“I’m trying not to think of you as angels, though.”

But perhaps it is similar?

Melissa took a bite of her food. “I guess I wouldn’t know what to say to my guardian angel, either. And he never was particularly forthcoming with me either. Alright, well, I feel a bit better about all that. You’ll have to understand if I still ask occasionally, though.”

Of course.

“And we should probably practice that thing I’ve been working on, too. Hopefully, we can find some time for that.”

Everyone else trickled in as her conversation wrapped up. Speak of the devil, Trevor was first, though Fen showed up before he could get too far into his lament. Melissa felt she had to step in, though, on one such instance of her summary. “Oh, don’t sell yourself short, Fen. You held your own. I don’t think we would have won without your input. Besides, you beat your half of the Spike Brothers, right?

“And Trevor, I’m sorry we didn’t invite you. The message was addressed to us. I guess we just didn’t think about it.”

Any further conversation was cut short, though, by the surprise arrival of Aduain. Melissa had only known the fish person for a few days, but she would still recognize that “Heeeeeeeeeeeeey! Team?” anywhere. “Welcome back!” Melissa said as he arrived in the dining area. She got up with Fen and helped him unload his bounty, putting the food away (and the… apple next to the sleeping Bartleby so he could have it when he was ready) and laid out the rest.

“These tell quite the story,” Melissa said when it was all finished. “But you can tell it better than this, I’m sure. What’s it like outside of Prana? Besides all the weird fish, I mean.”

[Chaos Sonic 443]

It seemed that Fen decided to join him and Melissa, and proceeded to answer his question first. Of course, he didn't mind, considering they both were out together at the same location. He'd get the information about it regardless.

"Good morning, Trevor and Melissa. Oh yesterday was wonderful. I learned about this new card game called Yugioh that, well, Melissa herself seems fairly well acquainted with. We even had a match against Fiona though, I'm uh, I'm afraid I might've just been weighing her down."
“Oh, don’t sell yourself short, Fen. You held your own. I don’t think we would have won without your input. Besides, you beat your half of the Spike Brothers, right? And Trevor, I’m sorry we didn’t invite you. The message was addressed to us. I guess we just didn’t think about it.”

Trevor nodded, giving a chuckle, noticing that their resident fish-man finally returned from his mission. Good on him for sure! "Ah, fret not, Melissa. There's always the next time. And I'm quite intrigued...it sounds like a game that people would've played in my own home-world. Wouldn't mind a look into that game at some point." he sipped his coffee once more before turning to Aduain. "And welcome back to you, my fishy friend. It seems like your mission went swimmingly..."

The grimoire flipped it's pages. "...tell me you did not just make that joke."

The sorcerer was silent, before clearing his throat. "...I realize the context in those words came out...unintentional." he said, drinking more of his coffee. "Nevertheless! So, what's on our agenda for today, on the count that our top-hatted benefactor has not given us any new news or missions."