rakuen | Fortitude Round 11

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Fortitude Round 11 - Assembly

"Good morning!"

Dolorosa she ain't. Her second assembly of the day, Recette has learned from her height issues and is now sitting on the headmistress's podium, legs swinging.

"The headmistresses have a lot of work to do this week, and I'll be taking their place today. Um, I've been rehearsing all weekend and Conquest's assembly went okay so... I'll do my best!" She doesn't even bother looking at her notes this time, having checked on her PDA instead.

"Aww, you lost this time, but that's okay. I think it's nice for Conquest to have a chance to win, right? And you all did great against that bird on fire. When I had to fight that, my hair went up in flames and I had to jump in the lake... It was really embarrassing."

Recette, focus. "The Mayor wants to talk to you, so if I just... press this button..."

A minute of fumbling later, a prefect takes mercy on her and the screens start up to show Dunleavy sat in the kitchen of the mansion,

"So, you have opened the second tower and defeated the Firebird. No mean feat, so well done. I would like to congratulate Golbez and Suzaku Kururugi of Conquest, and Sora Himoto and Jake English of Fortitude for their efforts and all of you for your heroic fight against the tower guardian. I hope you enjoy your gifts."

"Another reward for you, another part of the legend," The parts that they had already heard on the train, the part she had told to Golbez and the part they heard after the first tower opened came up first on the screen:

This is a very simple story that everyone knows. A legend of a Princess, the Demon Lord who kidnapped her, and the Knight who fought to save her. The Lord had kidnapped the Princess countless times, but every time the Knight bested his challenges and rescued the Princess. No matter what tricks and ploys the Demon Lord used, the Knight would always triumph in the end.

In a faraway land, a Knight sought to finally defeat the Demon Lord that terrorized the people. Again and again they clashed, but victory mattered not for the demon always returned, darker and more powerful than before. After countless battles, the despairing Knight sought the help of an ancient Sage.

"How can I defeat the Demon Lord completely, save my people and my Princess, and live happily ever after?"

The Sage told of the one sure way to truly defeat a demon: the source of the Demon Lord's power lay in six beautiful stars, protected by six devils. Defeat the devils to gain the stars, said the Sage. Only when the Knight held the six stars could the Demon Lord finally be slain. Only when the Knight held the six stars could she return home.

Years later, in a faraway land, a Knight consulted a Sage and returned to the castle with new wisdom, but was too late to save the Princess. The land had been corrupted by the Demon King. As the land sickened, so to did the Princess. When the Knight arrived home, she was almost gone.

'I'll save your kingdom,' promised the Knight.

'I know,' said the Princess.

With those words, she used the last of her life, becoming the blade that had so often aided her Knight in the past. On the hilt was an etched bird, frozen in silver. Its eyes were stars, its wings light. The Knight held the sword close, and wept bitterly.

Dunleavy read a fourth part out loud as the words appeared on the screen.

"This is a very simple story that everyone knows. A Knight journeys to save a Princess who is captured by the Demon Lord. One time, the Knight reached a fork in the path. One road bright and safe, the other dark and dangerous, haunted by death. The Knight found something at the beginning of one of the roads. Something easily overlooked: a single flower petal.

It was a sign left by the Princess. Such a small sign, but the Princess had believed that the Knight would notice it. The Knight took the dark road with a glad heart, because the Knight also believed in the Princess. Showing no doubt, showing only trust. And so they were never tricked by the Demon Lord." Dunleavy smiled one last time, "Good luck for this next round!"

With that, the screens flick back, now showing the list of names. Recette forgets to read them out. Again.

Alex Furest
Dirk Strider
Jade Harley
Komachi Onozuka
Sora Himoto

She does, however, remember to point out that she brought doughnuts for everyone, which have apparently been stored in a crate for the assembly. She pulls it forward as the assembly ends.

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This time, Dirk has the foresight to record Dunleavy's message with his PDA's video function.

His eyes widen in surprise behind his shades as the Player list is read off, and he turns his head to stare at Dave, wherever he might be standing. He's not a Player this round?

Wow, screw you Dirk. He isn't always a Player, believe it or not. Sometimes, he can actually be a Weapon!

Dave doesn't seem too bothered by it though, looking at his hand with the symbol already there. After all, he was linked with Jade, who was a Player. He shoves his hands in his pockets, looking around idly. He had nothing to do now.

It's hard to believe when he's never seen it happen OKAY.

But he's noticed the link charm around Dave's neck and noticed Jade has one too so he figures that's a thing that's happening. Still, he approaches Dave and smirks in as friendly a manner as he can.

"Maybe I'll win you this round."

Dave can't help but flash a grin as he starts to sign. He still signs slower than usual for everyone else. While it was kind of annoying, it wasn't going to do them any good if they don't get honest to god practice.

'I doubt Jade is going to lose me. I'm pretty boss as far as Weapons go.' He jingles the small chain around his neck. Not only were there five of his own upgrades on it, but others that he's picked up.

Dirk's still getting the hang of this signing shit, but if there's one thing he has going for him it's his keen memory. If Dave gets more emotional while signing, Dirk gets less so, more rigid and focused, while interpreting it.

"You shouldn't take my battle husband and mistress lightly, either."

Haha. What.

'Wait.' Dave pulls out his PDA. Because he's god damn curious at this point.

are you two actualy shacking up or is this some cute kind of really gay joke???
also idk if anyone actually appreciates being called a mistress
even if you add battle in front of it

He checks his PDA, and he's glad Dave typed that because he's not sure he'd have gotten all that if it had been signed.

"If Jake's my battle husband what else am I gonna call Jane?" he asks with a gesture to the link charm around his neck. "Polygamy's out of the question apparently."

He doesn't actually address the question, mainly because his mind refuses to process its existence.

Wow, that didn't really answer his question at all. But if Dirk wasn't going to answer the first time, he wasn't going to ask again.

idk
friend seems to be a pretty ok word but whatever floats your boat
i need a good amount of brain bleach since im trying to not actually think about this stuff
its like watching alternate versions of johns nanna jades grandpa and my bro shack up
oh wait
that is exactly what this is

Oh no, did he hurt Dave's little brain? Dirk starts to grin, but it makes his head feel kind of foggy to read those words. And he's not really sure why.

He's used the phrase "battle husband" often enough that he's learned to ignore the slight disorientation that comes with it, but for some reason Dave saying he's "shacked up" with Jake makes him go blank for a second.

And yet the thought of shacking up with Jane doesn't have the same effect. Whuh?

"Should've worried about that before you went and scratched your timeline," is all he says, because wow is he confused suddenly.

What is he forgetting here.

Dave raises an eyebrow and continues typing.

hey
our session was doomed
we had no choice
it wasnt like i scratched it
i mean sure
it was technically my beat mesa
but john was really the only one who could scratch it
the rest of u
...

Oh. Now he's confused. What was he doing during that time? How come he wasn't around to perform the scratch? Honestly, he had a huge gaping hole in his memory. All he knew was that John did the scratch but they all absconded before the scratch could pull them out of existence.

man
what the fuck

"Dude, I know, it was a joke." He says that, then looks up at Dave when his text starts getting weird.

"Lost memory?"

He doesn't know or care what a beat mesa is or why John was the only one who could do it.

yea
thats starting to get really annoying
because now im pretty sure im missing some important details
bluh

He's already forgotten what they were talking about. He's just kind of wrapped up in his thoughts. The huge gap of memories was still a little jarring to him.

"No kidding. Don't worry, you'll get 'em back."

Dirk shrugs and tries to look reassuring. Dave is up there near the top of his "To buy memory charms for" list, so.

its not really a priority anyways

[Considering how many he has bought and how he hasn't tried getting any back for himself...]

Maybe it's not a priority for Dave.

"I should go find Jane. Need to vow with her before someone else finds her and sweeps her off her feet."

that would be unsightly
how dare someone sweep her off her feet before you could
go swoon the ladies

Dave has nothing else to do. Probably go get food or sleep longer to be honest.

He nods and, with a gentlemanly tip of his beret, turns to go off and find Jane. "See you around."

Dave gives a wave before heading off in the opposite direction.

Alex notices Dirk recording the message. "Th-that's a good idea, c-can you send it ta me?"

He glances to Alex, then back down to his PDA. "Got you covered."

He attaches the file to a message and sends it over.

"Sweet." He rocks back on his heels, hands in his pockets. "S-so, we're b-both players."

Once he's done, Dirk looks up at Alex. Huh, so they are. "You want a match?"

"C-could be fun, b-but you know I'd pro'lly loose." He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly looking out into the crowd, rather than at Dirk. He'd love to actually fight, if only to get more practice. He had been getting some training from his friend, but fighting had never been his thing. He was just hoping that he wouldn't be rusty when he returned home.

"Probably," Dirk acknowledges with a shrug. "You get three raks either way."

Alex runs a hand through his hair, "W-well, I c-can't fight with Becca, then... I g-guess I'll a-ask Brittania." He bites his lip, "M-maybe, i-if it's a friendly m-match...?" Dirk could return Brittania to him in case he had to fight a match with someone who isn't a friend.

"If it's a friendly match...?" Dirk raises an eyebrow, waiting for Alex to finish his statement. He can guess what it is he's saying, but he wants to hear it aloud anyway.

Alex worries his lip a bit more, his voice cracks, "I-I-I-I... w-was, w-well, never m-mind." Even if he lost Brittania to Dirk, Dirk would take care of her. He might have managed to ask, but his nerves were already a bit frayed from the entire assembly.

"No. Continue."

Dirk has no patience for pussyfooters.

Alex runs his hand through his hair, taking a deep breath. "W-w-well, i-if y-you t-transfer h-her back, w-we c-could m-maybe have a-another match l-later in the week? I-if that's c-cool with y-you." He rushed his question, seeming to barely take a breath at all. He sighs and takes another deep breath at the end of it, eyeing the other people in the room, trying to keep an eye on all of them at once.

"Yeah, that's fine with me." Dirk says it completely casually without even stopping to think. Why was Alex making such a big deal out of it?

And he had started out acting so cool too. He actually seems a bit surprised that Dirk just says yes so easily. He takes another breath and sighs, ruffling his own hair, trying to relax a bit. "A-awesome. M-m-maybe I c-c-can learn from you."

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Fortitude Round 11 - Assembly

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