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]

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. )

[countryofassholes]

[Now what sort of misunderstanding could possibly come from a guy placing his hand on the chest of what (to all outside parties looking in) looks like another guy? I can't even fathom the possibilities.

Also, small laugh at that. OH SPAIN YOU KIDDER YOU.]

I hope not, it's only the first da- [And then she cuts off and staggers because holy Jesus that actually did sort of hurt. Don't mind her suddenly placing her hand against a nearby wall to steady herself now.]

[koyo]

( Life is full of tough choices and some times, you have to make them. Here's one of those times and he has to decide between catching Britannia in case she falls or holding onto the sword so it doesn't drop to the ground.

In the end, he tries to do both because hey, he can do it. He has two hands and-- oh, gosh, no, this isn't going to work out. First, there's a sword coming out of someone's chest and it both is and isn't what he was expecting. In surprise, he drops it, sword clattering to the ground. And wow, she doesn't even need to be caught in the end so he's just standing awkwardly in a half-reaching out position. )

Ay, are you okay?!

[countryofassholes]

[Give her a minute to recover. It wasn't so bad, just... disorienting, nothing she can't handle. At least that's what she thinks until an unearthly jarring sensation shakes her to the very core as the blade bounces off the hard floor with a metallic clang and bounces one more time before stopping.

At least this time with her guard up, it only causes a light wince and a twitch of her brow.

For the longest minute she's quiet, adjusting... then she puts a smile on her face and gives a shaky laugh. Keep it together, adapt and stay ahead...] Yeah, I'm okay. That surprised me!

[koyo]

But you don't look well. . . ( He's convinced drawing the sword hurt her and it's something he hadn't intended to do. His smile is gone and now, replaced with a frown and honest concern. ) Look at me, are you hurt?

I didn't mean to. . .

[countryofassholes]

[At the order for eye contact, Britannia turns her gaze on him and brightens her smile though like always, her eyes don't quite match up. Someday she'll get the hang of that trick, but for now they're steely cold and just a little bit troubled.

The fact that he didn't mean to hurt her or that he's actually sorry about it? Yeah, pretty obvious she doesn't believe him. Strangely though, she also doesn't seem to hold that against him.]

I'll be fine, I'm pretty tough.

[koyo]

( Spain is a master at that so called trick but that doesn't mean he can spot it easily. In fact, he doesn't really notice at all. As for her disbelief? Well! Spain is used to others not taking him seriously. It's something he can accept and run with, hoping they'll realize the truth later.

So Spain frowns a moment longer before kneeling down to pick up the sword. Back on his feet, he gives it a few swings. )

It's a good sword. ( Another swing and then he turns it over in his hands. Not too heavy. Not too light. ) Sí, I think this can work.

[countryofassholes]

[Britannia watches Spain get a feel for her weapon, watching him with that perfectly content smile on her lips. Only when he's finished his few moves, she decides she has to know. A hunch from the exhibition match yesterday, that jarring sensation just now...

She has to know. Because if that happens during battle and she's unprepared for it...]

That's good. Can I ask you a quick favor?

[koyo]

Hm? ( He looks up from the blade at Britannia, ) What do you want?

[countryofassholes]

This wall? [She pats the wall she had been leaning against only a few minutes ago. It's sturdy, brick perhaps. Strong and unmovable. Giving it a brief glance, she transfers her gaze back to Spain and says in perfectly even tones:] Can you swing my sword against this as hard as you can? I'm curious about something.

[koyo]

. . . ( It's a strange request and he doesn't even recall the exhibition match from earlier. He's never really been one to think of yesterday-- always today or tomorrow. ) Sure.

( First, he looks around to make sure no one else is looking. Seeing no one, he takes a step back. Gripping the sword, he swings at the wall. It isn't as hard as he can-- he doesn't want to damage the sword or wall too much-- but it's still a good swing. )

[countryofassholes]

[There it is again, that sharp- jarring pain deep inside her chest. Like something has taken a hold of her heart and is squeezing it tightly, rather than Spain just swinging a fake weapon against a wall. Bringing a hand up and placing it over the pained spot, the empire takes a deep breath... then smiles.

At least she was prepared for it this time. At least now she knows.] Hmm... whoever designed this game is pretty mean. Anyway, thank you. I understand now.

[koyo]

( He isn't sure what that was supposed to accomplish but once done, the sword is back by his side and he turns to Britannia. Something isn't right. Even Spain can see that. )

Huh? What do you mean? Ay, if we're going to be allies, you have to tell me.