Fortitude: Round 1

[mamarosa]

When characters wake up the next morning there will be an announcement on all the screens. "Please report to the lobby at 12 noon for important information about this round." Anyone who is not in the lobby by twelve noon will most likely be found by the prefects and taken there by force.

When the characters turn up in Fortitude Lobby they will see the woman they saw battling yesterday, they may recall her weapon to be a shield, fitting for Fortitude. She is standing on a raised podium, looking relaxed, with Nanami by her side. "I hope you slept well," she says with a friendly smile, "Today marks the beginning of the first battle round. If your name is called you have been chosen to be a Player for this round. Those chosen as Players are given all of their rights and can grant rights to the Weapons they vow to. Unvowed Weapons, known as Discards, do not have rights and have to do whatever the prefect," she motions to Nanami, "tells them to do. This may not seem fair to many of you, but these are the rules of Rakuen and they must be obeyed.

I'm sure you've all read the rule book and are familiar with the vowing process, but for those who are confused, I will briefly go over it. Vowing means to promise to protect then, when vowed the Weapon will have a possession mark appear on their hand. As Fortitude students, your mark will be a shield. Only when vowed are Players allowed to give Weapons rights."

Throughout her speech, her forever peaceful smile never left her face, "I believe you will all be good Players to your Weapons, even if it is not required of you. We will be watching what you do and any disregard for the rules will be taken care of.

"Today, if you are unaware, is Sunday. Rounds will always start on Sunday and as there is no school I would suggest vowing today. The day before round start, Saturday, is your free day. There are no Players or Weapons on Saturday and therefore everyone has equal rights. You are allowed to work for extra Raks on Saturday as well. School starts tomorrow 8am sharp, breakfast is from 7 until 8, Players have access to the full menu, Weapons need permission, and Discards do not have that access"

She pauses to take out the piece of paper with the list of Players on it, "The following students have been chosen for the first round:
1. Kotarou
2. Dave
3. Shion
4. Lelouch
5. Spain
6. Vriska

I, as well as Nanami, are here to answer any questions you may have about the school or battle system, so do not hesitate to ask. Good luck in battling and remember that not battling comes with its own price."

With that last ominous note, Dolorosa finishes her speech.

Comments

[koyo]

Fighting is hard work. ( It's a complaint and Spain doesn't care to elaborate on it. ) But I suppose if we don't we get in trouble, hm?

[countryofassholes]

[Spain, quit being a downer. Britannia is all hyped up for her first chance to actually do something physically useful instead of just looking on from afar.] Probably. So be my player, okay?

[koyo]

( But Spain is ooooooold. )

Sí, sí, give me your hand, Princesa.

[countryofassholes]

Princesa? [Have a confused blink as she obeys, giving him her dominant hand.]

[koyo]

Or maybe Príncipe is better. ( Because she certainly acts like both. Like a pushy one.

He takes her hand in his own and raises it to his lips, kissing the back. )

I, Antonio, vow to ally with you, Britannia.

[countryofassholes]

[SLDKGNLKNLKNED YANKS her hand back and holds it glaring at Spain.]

What was that for!?

[koyo]

( c u u u u u u t e )

What you told me to do!

[countryofassholes]

[No, not cute. Mortified, MORTIFIED. WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE? WHY IS HE TREATING HER LIKE A GIRL? NOBODY EVER TREATS HER LIKE A GIRL.

Give her a second to regain her composure, all the while holding her hand like she can protect it from him.] I didn't ask you to kiss me.

[koyo]

( THEN HE'S GOING TO HAVE TO DO IT MORE OFTEN. . . okay, no, he was treating her the same way he'd treat any other person really. )

But I wanted to. ( SPANISH SMILE. SPANISH SMILE. topic change. ) Hey, do you know what your weapon is?

[countryofassholes]

[... we are concerned about you, Spain.

Also, this is clearly a case of culture shock.] ... don't do that again, it's weird.

And my weapon's a sword.

[koyo]

( Spain won't comment on the first part because he's already resolved to give hugs and kisses everyday ok. )

A sword! Ah, bien, bien. I thought it would be something difficult. ( Like a guillotine or something? Don't pretend to know what Spain was thinking of. ) Can I see?

[countryofassholes]

[SOB]

What, like a knightmare? [She's way off on another tangent, no worries. And she shrugs, finally letting go of her hand to observe the shield mark on the back of it.] Sure.

[koyo]

Well, I wouldn't know how to use that either. ( Dreams. Mecha. Same thing. ) All right, let's--

( He's about to try but stops short. )

Let's go somewhere else.

[countryofassholes]

Really? But even I've piloted one before. [She seems surprised at Spain's lack of ability when she's the younger nation, but sure. Whatever.

When he stops mid-drawing, she blinks.] Sure, but why?

[koyo]

( Beginning to lead the way out the lobby. )

Huh? ( What's this about piloting. No, wait, he'll answer her question first. ) Because others can see and you don't know who will tell who what, you know? Some times the best weapon is a secret one.

( Come, Britannia, let Spain share some of that 500+ years of battle experience with you. ) But what did you say about pilots?

[countryofassholes]

[Oh, surprises and subterfuge. That was more Schneizel's thing than her's, she tends to go the Cornelia route of pummel the enemy with raw force. Still, she'll follow easily enough and answer Spain's question.]

Knightmare frames. I thought everyone had piloted one of those at least once.

[koyo]

( Oh Britannia you are so young and cute and buhyoo if he knew he'd daydream about the sixteenth century and seventeenth centuries.

Also, struggling to find a way to respond to her here. )

. . . Everyone has had a bad dream at least once before. . . ?

[countryofassholes]

[Just ask her how old she is. It's a dead giveaway~]

[Also, she's just giving Spain a very. Very. Very weird look.] ... knightmare with a K. You know, the war machines I used to invade Area 11 eight years ago?

[koyo]

( Area 11. He recognizes that name. )

What about Japón?

[countryofassholes]

[Hmmm? More missing memories? Someone had far too much fun with Spain's head.]

I control him.

[koyo]

( There are a lot of things wrong with Spain's head, even without the missing memories, and this is not one of them.

They'll stop somewhere still inside, in a hallway or something. I don't pretend to know the exact layout of this building. )

Jaja, of course. ( Not realizing she's being serious. ) You shouldn't tease Japón, he doesn't look like he would handle it very well.

[countryofassholes]

[It's alone and private, we'll go with that.]

[At his insinuation that she's not being serious, she'll just sigh. She knows she's supposed to adapt and evolve to fit the situation but... she'd rather just deal with the source of the problem directly than try to make Spain understand.] Is this secret enough?

[koyo]

Huh? Oh, sí. All right! Let me know if it hurts or anything, okay?

( And Spain will place a hand to Britannia's chest like he saw the fighters do at the arena the day before. He's doing it right, right? )

[countryofassholes]

[She's just... going to stand there. With Spain's hand on her chest.

Well this isn't awkward whatsoever, right? After a moment of nothing, she blinks and tilts her head.]

Maybe you need to be wearing the glove. [What, did you think she was going to spaz out like a normal girl?]

[koyo]

( It's not so much Britannia's reaction he's worried about but someone walking by and getting the completely wrong idea. Again. Because being Spain is about being a misunderstanding. )

The glo-- ( He has it on him. Some. . . where. . . Not this pocket or that one or. . . ah, here we go. ) Do you think so? You could just be broken.

( Teasing, teasing, putting the glove on. OKAY LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN. )