EX Mission: A Midsummer's Nightmare Dream Vacation

Woods
- Vayu -Vote for your own candidate

Vayu was slightly surprised when Komori called them over to discuss their votes. He swallowed, realizing he hadn’t paid much attention to the actual pageant. He was too distracted by Samael’s display.

He shrugged at Komori’s suggestion, not really happy about idea to have someone determine his vote for him.

Samael spoke up, with a rather expressive reasoning. Vayu noted that he wasn’t sure if he liked this new perspective that he had the other Vanguard. Anyway, it was clear that Komori’s suggestion wasn’t agreeable to all of them.

“I vote for Cherry.”

- Cleo -

Cleo considered Komori's words as the others began to cast their votes. While he was correct that this competition was beginning to feel more like a trap that they'd set for themselves, it also felt wrong to vote for someone, just to keep the peace.

His eyes moved to each of the ladies on the stage. Aside from Aeris and Rory, all of them had seemingly suffered some kind of breakdown during the questions, and several of them even required help from their partners to get through it. Rory had stumbled over the questions, but it had clearly been nervous excitement, rather than embarrassment or stage fright.

To be honest, Aeris had seemed the most collected and confident overall, but she had also treated the entire experience like a contest (which it was). Rory had been more enamored with the entire process and, despite being a little nervous, seemed to actually enjoy the experience on the whole. That was what determined his vote.

"Rory."

[A and B? The vote was for Rory, but not because the group decided on it.]

Zephyr Arc - Lakeside

As Mongo began to make a racket about Zephyr getting on stage, he was suddenly silenced by a prick on his head, causing a streak of blood to shoot out before Zephyr appeared in front of him and casually retrieved his miniaturized spear. Not even bothering to acknowledge this, he then walked back to the rest of the boys. Cherry herself quickly retreated backstage to join the other contestants.

As far as voting went, Zephyr just observed the others argue over who to vote for. Waiting until most of them had decided, Zephyr chimed in. "Well since we're all voting for different people, I pick Scarlet! Why? Because no one picked her yet!" He exclaimed loudly.

[B: Vote for your own candidate]

Komori sighed as the headstrong guys plowed ahead unapologetically in making their choices. It wasn't exactly surprising, but he had hoped...

Well, now here he was, having to make the final vote. He could vote for Rory to make her happy and clinch it. Or he could vote for Nena, like he really wanted to. But then it would be a tie, and Mongo would certainly break it by voting for Rory. Or could he vote for Aeris, but... that wouldn't make Nena happy at all. So there was always taking Zephyr's approach...

"Komori?" Mongo prompted.

"I vote for N-" His eyes flickered back and forth between his two choices. "Nihility. For her... bold use of color!"

Aeris sighed and shook her head, though she seemed more amused than exasperated. "Guess I'm the odd one out. I must have made a really bad first impression."

Nena probably would have made more of that, if she weren't too busy pursing her lips and staring resentfully in Komori's direction.

"With a two vote majority, that makes Rory our winner!" Mongo declared, producing a crown of flowers. "Congratulations!"

Rory clapped her hands to her mouth and bounced in excitement before running over to Mongo, who carefully placed the crown on her head.

"Thank you," she said, bowing toward the judges. "But I think all the contestants look amazing."

"Here here!" Komori cheered, clapping as the others joined in.

"So, as our Queen of Summer, what do you think we should do next, Rory?" Mongo asked.

She thought carefully for a few moments, then pointed toward the lake. "Let's go swimming!"

With cheers, everyone made their way to the lake. Aeris and Komori started up the rocks of the cliff overlooking the lake, intending to dive. Rory took a seat on the lake's edge, dipping her feet in and picking flowers along the grass lining the edge. Nena found a nice spot in a shallow area to simply soak and relax. Bastion, meanwhile, slid into the water and began to calmly swim laps.

Mongo took a spot on the rocks by the pool of water and retrieved his telescope, looking around to catch all the action.

- Cleo -

Cleo smirked at Aeris' comment. If anything, she'd made too good of a first impression, but he couldn't imagine the she would appreciate that feedback from him. Still, everything had panned out, and no one seemed particularly hurt by the verdict. Except for maybe Nena, Cleo thought, giving the woman another glance. She would still be happy for Rory though. Despite her personality, she'd been a good mother figure for the girl.

As everyone else broke away to start their swim, Cleo followed Komori and Aeris up the rocks. The water was clear enough to see where it was deeper, and there was no better way to get into the mood for swimming than to dive in. "So, how did you know this place was here?" He asked Komori as they made the trek to the cliff. "I can't imagine you stumbled upon it by accident."

----------------------------------

- Silky -

A stream of bubbles broke the surface near Nena, and then a torso swelled from beneath the water, floating beside her. Smiling to herself, Silky hummed her appreciation as she soaked in the warmth of the sun drifting down on them through the trees. This place made her want to sing. Not that she'd actually do that with so many people present, but maybe after they all went to sleep...

Nihility ~ Back to the Lakeside

Nihility didn't really get why the people were so worked up over this. She only participated because of Nena and didn't really care about the grand outcome. But now that it was over, she could finally complete that dip into the lake and let the cool water wash away any worries.

Making way for the Silky, Nihility waded around Nena, smiled and thanked the woman for the modelling tips and went ahead for her swim in the cool waters.

After admiring the underwater life below her for a short while, Nihility would resurface to relax on her back and let her body peacefully float about.

- The Cliffdivers -

Komori and Aeris silently surveyed the water below as Cleo came up to join them. When he asked about how Komori knew of the place, he chuckled and scratched the back of his neck.

“Oh, when I have free time, I like to scout out the areas around Chaldea. It’s good to have some nice getaway locations in your back pocket,” he said evasively.

“Places you can make as much noise as you want to,” Aeris replied, smirking.

His ears reddened slightly. “Heh.. something like that. I was saving this place for a special occasion, though, and.. the time just seemed right.”

Komori glanced down the cliff at the others, all relaxing and having fun for what felt like the first time in ages. His gaze rested on Nena, soaking down below, and he smiled.

“So, are we doing this diving contest or what?” Aeris interrupted.

Komori sighed and shook his head. “Always a competition with you.”

She smirked. “Like you’re any different.”

“Hah!” He grinned. “Fair enough. What’s the prize?”

Aeris glanced between Cleo and Komori before shrugging. “Maybe just... the losers owe the winners a favor?”

Komori frowned, contemplating her. He knew Aeris well enough that owing her a favor could be much less innocent than it sounded.

“What kind of favor?”

She smirked and reached out a hand, dancing her fingers delicately up his chest. “Don’t you worry about that. Just... dive.”

She planted her hand into his chest and shoved him off the cliff. With a yell, Komori plummeted toward the water, only regaining himself at the last moment. He curled into himself and hit the water in a spectacular cannonball that sent water splashing everywhere.

“You... cheated!” he spluttered.

“I don’t remember making any rules,” Aeris replied innocently. She then took a step back and leaped over the edge in a perfect dive, spiraling through the air before slicing through the water like a knife through butter. She pulled upward in a perfect curve, breaking the water with a barely a ripple, and raised an eyebrow at Komori.

“Cheat,” he muttered.

She turned on him, swatting him lightly with her wet black hair, and turned to Cleo.

“Your turn,” she called.

———————————————

- Nena and Nihility -

Nena lounged quietly and contentedly, blocking out the rest of the world. At least, by all appearances. But beneath her sun hat, she carefully spied on the group at the top of the cliff. When she saw Aeris playing around with Komori, she found herself grinding her teeth in frustration.

“Nena.”

She jumped and turned to see Nihility float by, thanking her for her help with the swimsuit competition.

“I’m glad it helped,” she said, smiling. “I think you took to it quite naturally.”

Not as naturally as that utter cow-

She heard a cry and turned to see Komori plummeting off the cliff. With a start of alarm, she started to move but saw him pull through and hit the water in a controlled way. Unfortunately, it also sent a giant splash, soaking her from head to toe.

“Oh!” She dug her nails into her palms at the sight of Aeris smirking down at Komori, obviously the cause of all this. Even if she was already in a bathing suit, it was still rude to splash people who didn’t want to be soaked.

Turning away in a huff, she slouched back into a recline, trying harder than ever to ignore them.

Lake in the woods
- Vayu -

The voting concluded and it appeared no feelings were seriously hurt. Rory on the other hand was ecstatic.

They decided to go swimming, spreading out around the lake. Vayu jumped back into the water from the lake’s edge, diving deep down. Underwater it was incredibly clear and calm. That was until Aeris and Komori decided to start a diving match.

With a powerful stroke, he pushed up until his head broke through the surface. Vayu swam back to the shore and found himself a sunny spot near the shore where Rory was sitting.

Relaxing, he leaned back into the grass, enjoying the warm feel of sun on his skin.

“You’re not going in?” he asked the young girl.

Zephyr Arc - Lakeside

With the contest done, Cherry returned to his side. To be more accurate, her fist immediately buried itself in his side. "At least have the decency to vote for me after making me join in the first place!" The pixie who could barely be distinguished from a human yelled in his ear as she then stomped his foot.

Zephyr shrunk back a bit at the sudden assault. "Calm down, sis! That's apparently unfair!" He pleaded, before turning around and rushing off to the furthest point he could see; the cliffside. He rushed up blindly, tripped, and narrowly missed Aeris as she leapt off the edge, himself sailing off the edge with all the grace of a stunned dolphin.

Cherry the Pixie | Lakeside - Nena

Cherry on the meanwhile huffed with her hands on her hips. She then took a deep breath to calm down and strolled next to Nena, managing to catch all the different colors that showed up on her usually mask-like face as she stared at Komori and Aeris.

"U-umm... does the matron l-like the instructor...?" She asked innocently, and rather sheepishly. The only reason she managed to speak at all was because Nena herself was also a demon.

- Cleo -

“That’s surprising.” Cleo responded with a grin. “I didn’t realize that you scouted anything outside of the Devil’s Cocktail during your free time.”

He listened intently as Aeris proposed a contest. Owing her a favor somehow seemed dangerous, but at the same time, he’d be interested to see what exactly she chose to use it on. Cleo pondered that for a moment before realizing, by the same token, she could owe him a favor. Now that idea held promise.

“You play dirty.” He shot Aeris an approving look as Komori tumbled over the cliff. “Not that I’m surprised.”

She followed him off the ledge a moment later, and Cleo smiled. Obviously, she hadn’t considered that the person following her would also cheat.

Or maybe he wouldn’t…

Cleo sidestepped a windmilling Zephyr as he tumbled over the edge. Glancing down, he waited for the awkward flop at the end of the fall. That had to hurt.

Okay, now it was time to win that competition.

Leaping over the edge, head first, Cleo aimed right for where Aeris was currently bobbing in the water. Tucking his legs, he flipped so that his feet were pointed downward, and then, by the power of his Bait and Switch spell he was simply in the water, with Aeris now dropping into his arms.

The force of her fall pushed them both under, but after a brief moment, Cleo kicked off the bottom, propelling them both back upwards.

“Well, well. Look what I caught.” Cleo quipped as they broke the surface.

“Why, my dear teachers, I’m afraid that you’ve both made a bigger splash than me now.” He grinned at Aeris as he tread water.

”So, I suppose that means I win.”

--------------------------

- Silky -

Silky bobbed along in the water, even as Komori’s splash washed over them, completely content. Cherry’s words brought her to attention though. The other demon had stumbled over them, which made Silky wonder if she always sounded like that.

Shifting her position, Silky waited for Nena’s response, with only her eyes above the water.

- Rory and Bastion -

Rory smiled as Vayu broke the surface of the water and climbed onto the shore next to her. Her fingers continued their nimble work weaving the flowers together.

“I will,” she told him. “I just wanted to take a moment to soak everything in.”

She looked around happily at everyone splashing about and having fun or lounging about in peace. She hadn’t really experienced anything like this, and it was so wonderful and new that she just needed to bask in it before trying out anything for herself.

“It feels like... family,” she said quietly, inhaling the cluster of flowers.

After a few moments, she set the flowers down and took off her crown, resting it on the flowers to keep them in place while she slipped into the water.

“Come on, let’s play a game,” she told Vayu, beaming.

“What kind of game?” Bastion asked, floating past them.

Rory turned a brilliant shade of red and froze, staring at Vayu for help.

———————————————

- Nena and the demoness gossip club -

Nena blinked and turned to Cherry at the unexpected question, temporarily forgetting Komori and Aeris’ antics. Her eyes flickered between the Pixie and the Silky bobbing just along the surface of the water.

“I...” Her face heated up, but she quickly shook her head and the notion away.

“Succubi don’t ‘like’ anyone,” she said, folding her arms and forcing an aloof expression. “Men are prey to us... that’s all.”

It was the truth. Or, at least, it should be. What kind of sad excuse for a succubus was she? She couldn’t win a beauty contest, and she was the one watching hopelessly after one man instead of wrapping him and dozens of others around her pinky.

Had trying to blend into human society changed her in some way? It seemed unfitting to call herself a succubus... and yet, she would never really be a human either.

———————————————

- Komori and Aeris -

Komori barked out a laugh and shook his head at Cleo’s audacity. Aeris, however, looked simultaneously annoyed and impressed. She let go of his shoulders, which she’d used to steady herself when they’d submerged and reemerged, and folder her arms.

“Well, I guess I can’t complain about cheating, after all,” she mused.

“No, you can’t,” Komori echoed, grinning.

Aeris pursed her lips at him, then glanced back at Cleo, waiting for him to release his hold on her. When she looked at him, however, their was a flicker of surprise in her eyes that vanished carefully a moment later.

“I suppose we both owe you then,” she said, slipping from his hold and wading back a couple feet. “I don’t know if we should count him or not.”

She hooked a thumb back in Zephyr’s direction. When Komori turned to check on him, Aeris gave a pointed look at Cleo’s hairline before turning away.

Lake in the woods
- Vayu -

At Rory’s words, Vayu re-opened his eyes and also looked around to see what she was talking about.

“I think I get what you mean,” he replied at her comment about family. He pushed the memories that threatened to resurface to the back of his mind. Instead he focused on the now, just in time to see Rory turn a brilliant shade of red. It was a startling contrast to the blue-green water.

He got up. “I have an idea,” he said, clearly in a good mood, and grabbed something from the pile of their bags. “How about a round of water volleyball?”

Vayu spun the volleyball on his finger and then tossed it towards Rory and Bastion.

“Heey!!” he yelled over to the others and pointed at the volleyball. “Who’s up for a game?!” He waved them over before jumping back into the cool water.

Samael

A light smile was etched on Samael's face, seemingly pleased with the display of the fashion show. His eyes shifting closer to Nena who he had voted for, as he appeared to to be closely examining her actions and movements.

After the contest had ended Samael had been sitting shore side reading a book in his arms marking a few notes in it with his pencil, as he glanced up at Vayu who was talking about a game with a look of somewhat annoyance, closing his book at the same time with light thump, revealing the cover to look something like a sketch book.

"I suppose, always good to keep moving." Samael stated a loud before muttering to himself, as he set the book down on the chair in a neat and protected manner, covering it up with some wrap like it was some gift or precious heirloom while he slowly approached the water. Though, he in all honesty only wanted to get a better look at the swimsuits and record their designs in better details.

"So what are the teams?" Samael asked curiously, as he carefully began to walk into the water almost like he was expecting it to turn into a demon at a moment's notice.

Rory clapped her hands at Vayu’s idea and looked around at the others.

“Come on, everyone! Let’s play water volleyball!”

Komori and Aeris grinned, competitive spirits firing up. When Samael asked about the teams, they immediately sized each other up and stepped apart, nodding.

“Can I be on your team?” Rory asked Komori, swimming up to him.

He beamed at her. “Of course. In fact, let’s get all of the regulars on our team.” He waved over Vayu, then swam over to where Nena was, eyes closed by very much listening.

“Rise and shine,” Komori whispered, flicking a bead of water onto her cheek.

Nena opened her eyes, looking annoyed, but reddened at the sight of Komori in the water beside her, his face close to hers. She looked down, then realized that was a mistake as she took in the planes and contours of his hard body.

“What is it?” she huffed, turning away. “Can’t you see I’m sunbathing?”

“Later!” he said. “We’re about to play a game of volleyball, and we want you on our team.”

Nena blinked and looked around to where Vayu and Rory were waiting expectantly, waving her over. “You... do?”

Holding out a hand, Komori waited for her with a patient smile. After a moment’s hesitation, she slid her hand into his and let him lead her over to their waiting team members.

Meanwhile, Aeris began to scout out the remaining players. “You, and you.” She pointed to Cleo and Zephyr. “You’re with me.” She looked around at Scarlet, but the young woman shook her head.

“I’ll referee,” she said, moving over to the side.

Aeris sighed and looked around at the remainders. The Silky was watching them with interest, and she waved the demon over. She looked timid, sure, but she was a water spirit. That had to count for something.

“Four on four,” Komori said, counting them out as Bastion and Samael watched.

“Umm,” Rory began, cheeks reddening. “We could ask...”

Before she could finish Samael waded up to them and asked to join. Komori welcomed him with a clap on the back, and Rory tried to mask her disappointment as Bastion sighed and moved over to join Aeris, Zephyr, Cleo, and his Silky.

“Mongo!” Nena called to the little imp, who’d been watching the activity with interest. “Here.”

She tossed him one end of the net, then beckoned to the Pixie and handed her the other end.

“How am I supposed to properly watch when I’m busy holding this?” Mongo complained, pulling up the net with one hand and trying to hold up the telescope with the other.

“That’s the idea...” Nena muttered.

The stage was set. The five competitors on each side stared each other down, waiting for the first move.

“On this side, we have...?” Scarlet began.

“The Cocktail Crew!” Komori suggested, throwing an arm around Nena and Rory and pulling them in close with a beaming smile. Rory giggled, and Nena could only blush.

“And on this side, we have...?’ Scarlet prompted.

“The Aeris Armada,” Aeris declared.

Scarlet nodded and held up her hand. “All right then. Match begin!”

Lake in the woods
- Vayu -

The others quickly jumped onboard with the idea of water volleyball.

Vayu surfaced near Rory and watched as Komori and Aeris divided them into two teams. He chuckled at their team name together with Komori’s display.

Instead of joining the group hug, he dove for the volleyball.

“My idea, my serve,” he declared.

“You guys ready?” he asked and looked over to Samael and the others and held the volleyball up, ready to serve.

Nihility ~ Bobble Head

First, it was the Swimsuit Competition, and now everyone was geared up for a new event without much of a break in-between. What kind of mental and physical training did people go through to be so energetic all the time? Wasn't the whole thing of leaving the Chaldean duties behind be to chill and relax? Nihility pondered over the choices her companions made as her floating body bobbed around from all the waves being generated towards her from the Water Sport.

Cleo winked at Aeris before realizing she was staring at his hair. Rather, she was probably looking at something beneath his hair. With a much finesse as possible, he released her into the water and shook his head to get some of the water out of his hair. Hopefully, it would do a better job of covering things up after that.

“While I might be okay with cheating in the actual contest, it doesn’t feel right to rope him into a deal he wasn’t present for.” Cleo responded before mouthing the word “later” to Aeris.

“In any case, I’ll have to think about what I’d like to use those favors on later. It can’t be a bad thing to have the instructors owe me one though.”

A moment later, Vayu and Rory called for a game of volleyball. Since that was exactly the kind of distraction he needed right now, Cleo was happy to join in, even if it did mean feeding Aeris’ already overinflated ego a bit by allowing her to name their team.

Cleo took up a position on the back row, where his height would help him chase down any balls that got past the others. Silky dipped beneath the water for a moment before rising directly in front of the net. She remained mostly beneath the surface, but there was a definite amusement in her eyes that hadn’t been present before.

Samael

"I'm ready." Samael responded to Vayu's comment giving the Vanguard a quick thumbs up.  He briskly swam through the now rapid waters near the net with an intense look of focus;  almost like the next serve would decide some grave important fate.  Though, he didn't know a thing about volleyball, he didn't really play it much at all in the forest and there wasn't much time for random luxury with those marauding demons he tagged along with when he was younger...

Well!  Spiking the ball shouldn't be too difficult right?  Just stand close to the net and smack it down when you get the chance?

Samael eyed each of his opponents thinking about their abilities.  before his eyes locked onto Bastion for a bit longer than he should.  It was a shame they weren't working together after they did so well with teamwork on the last mission....

"Wait were spells allowed?" Samael muttered with a worried expression at Cleo and Zeyphr who both had spells that would make it very difficult to maneuver around... especially if Zeyphr decides to make the ball super tiny and impossible to hit!

Zephyr Arc - Lake

Once he hit the surface, Zephyr took to the water quickly. He zipped through the water like an actual porpoise before coming up for air, having completely missed Aeris' little competition. By the time he surfaced, it seemed it had been decided that they would be having a game of water volleyball. He hadn't played the aquatic variant before, but he was familiar enough with volleyball that he thought to would be fun to play.

Komori and the Devil's Cocktail staff quickly formed a group, so he accepted Aeris invite to join her side. He felt like the game might be a little unfair looking at the rosters for both sides, with himself, Cleo and Aeris being three of the four most physically gifted people present. "I'm not sure adding spells to this lineup would end well for anyone..."

Cherry the Pixie | Lakeside

Cherry busied herself in floating above the lake, enjoying the view and fresh breeze. She was still Shifted to human size, something she was used to and didn't mind. When she spotted Komori with Nena, she gave the proprietress a cheeky grin as Komori led her off by the hand. When Aeris called her over to hold the net, she was glad she hadn't shrunk back down yet.

Aeris and Komori eyed each other across the net.

“No spells,” they both said together. Having to resort to magic to supplement their skills would show weakness, and neither would do that.

“No spells,” Bastion repeated, relieved. Throwing magic into the mix would make this even more of a hassle than it was bound to be. He looked across the net and blinked as Samael seemed to be watching him. He sank a little lower into the water, hiding the handprint branded over his heart. He hadn’t been thinking about it when he’d changed into his bathing suit, but now he suddenly felt self-conscious about it. Had the others been staring at it as well, and he just hadn’t noticed?

“Heads up!” Aeris yelled, and he blinked back into focus. Vayu had just served with a powerful strike, and the ball zoomed right toward him. Panicking, Bastion fell back on instinct and swung his hands upward, knocking the ball into the air.

“I got it!” Aeris called, leaping through the water and smacking the ball over the net toward Nena.

Komori, however, intercepted it with a grin and knocked it up into the air. He then heaved Rory up out of the water with a squeak, and she hit it as hard as she could back toward Cleo.

“Nice one!” Rory cheered, dropping back into the water as Nena sighed with relief.

“Yes, very nice,” Mongo murmured, tweaking his telescope as he focused on Aeris.

- Cleo -

No spells.

Yeah, like Cleo actually believed that this wouldn't devolve into a spell-slinging contest before the end. Still, it would be kinda nice if they actually made it through the game without that happening.

His eyes tracked the ball as it crossed over the net. Bastion clearly hadn't been prepared for the game to start, but he had to give the guy credit for a quick recovery.

With the ball headed towards him, Cleo tread water, pulling his arms together to bump it up into the air near the net. "Got it." The ball went higher than he'd expected, but it drifted back down to where he'd intended for it to be after a second.

In a twisting motion that sent out a shower of water, Silky launched herself from beneath the surface. Much to Cleo's surprise, her torso actually rose above the net, giving her the perfect angle to spike the ball sideways, shooting it almost parallel to the net on the opposing side. It was a dirty move that he definitely wouldn't have expected from the silent demon. Maybe you really did need to watch out for the quiet ones?

Samael

Samael sighed in relief as he knew spells wouldn't be slung like some sort of tense negotiation had just succeeded. Though, I'm sure the last thing everyone would want is giant volley balls from Zeyphr slamming into the water and creating a tidal wave.

Samael's head suddenly came back to reality, as his eyes widened when he saw Bastion sinking into the water. his eyes sharply lowering towards the water and then shifting towards Vayu like he was waiting for him to serve....

Damn, He was too obvious staring at Bastion, he probably thought he was acting creepy now...

For the time being, tried to position himself way too close to the net to spike the ball, but with every attempt he wasn't fast enough as the ball zoomed past him. Time and time again his face grew more and more red by the moment....

Suddenly, Silky lunged above the net and fiercely smacked the ball parallel to the next.

"What?!" Samael gasped jumped towards the ball barely nicking it with his hands as the ball as the angel slightly changed towards the rest of the team, but the ball didn't raise in distance at all as it was barely off the water.

"Damn it" Samael muttered in defeat, as he dramatically slammed face first into the water, as the cool liquid flew up into his nostrils getting noise into his water as he quickly rose from the quickly clutching his head in pain.

Lake in the woods
- Vayu -

The volleyball changed sides a couple times, until Cleo’s newest demon got her hands on it. Shooting from the water, she spiked the ball directly down along the net. Samael, being closest to the net, was only barely able to keep it above water.

Vayu was still too far away to even attempt to save the ball. His eyes were still lingering on Silky.

“No spells, but demon abilities are allowed?” he muttered, more to himself than anyone.

Zephyr Arc - Lake

Zephyr watched the ball move back and forth, waiting for it to come his way. As he watched, he noticed Bastion slip a little deeper into the water, not really registering his chest, but following his gaze to Samael. 'Huh?' He wondered, before Cleo's new demon broke that train of thought with her sudden big move.

"It seems so!" He yelled a reply to Vayu, having heard his mutter, before cheering.

The Cocktail Crew waited with baited breath as Samael dove for the ball, just barely saving it from hitting the water. There was a collective gasp of relief, then panic as they realized he’d barely moved the ball vertically. Komori dove forward as well, smacking the ball upward blindly as he twisted.

“Oh, I’ve got it!” Rory said, moving beneath and tapping the ball to set it up. “Nena, go for it!”

Nena took a deep breath, surged forward, and slammed the ball forward with all her might, sending it sailing over the net.

“I did it!” she exclaimed, looking immediately to Komori. “I-“

The ball slammed into the water in front of her - courtesy of a spike from Aeris - soaking her in a splash of water.

“First point to Aeris’ Armada!” Scarlet declared.

“We didn’t get a ruling on that Silky’s maneuver,” Nena protested.

“Uh, well...” Scarlet waffled, looking away from all the eyes probing her.

“Oh, don’t be a bad sports,” Aeris taunted, smirking. “She just gave herself a little altitude.”

Komori frowned. “Still...” After a pause, he sighed and shook his head. “She’s right. It’s a friendly game. No harm done.” He flashed the Silky a reassuring smile as he tossed the ball over to their side to serve.

Nena glared in Aeris’ direction, but there was no point arguing the matter. Aeris handed over the ball to Bastion to serve. He lined up the ball, deciding where to hit it. His gaze fell on Samael first, but for some reason, he felt embarrassed and shifted away until he saw Rory, who was staring even more intently at him. Averting his eyes, he looked toward Nena, but she was glaring furiously and didn’t seem a wise target to provoke. He gave up and served toward Komori, but that proved a mistake when he rocketed up and spiked it right back at Bastion, smacking the water right in front of him.

“What the hell was that?” Aeris demanded.

Bastion sighed and threw the ball back, ignoring her.

The game continued on for several rounds, with both sides making good points. Vayu pulled off a great hit, Cleo an amazing save. Aeris and Komori rallied their sides, becoming more and more heated in their hits. Nena grew more and more frustrated as Aeris seemed to always direct the ball her way. And more often than not, she either missed or barely managed to keep things going, forcing the team to compensate for her. Samael pulled off a good save from Zephyr’s hit, setting it up for her, but she glanced off the ball and sent it spiraling to the side, just in time for Rory to save and set up for Komori to hit.

Only for the ball to return to her with a vengeance. Out of frustration, as she dove for the ball, she let a big of mana slip out from the tips of her fingers, catching the ball and forcing it upward over the net in a surprising upset. Aeris’ Armada was not expecting it, and the ball hit the water before Cleo could reach it.

“Nice!” Komori cheered, throwing an arm around her and squeezing.

Nena’s face went red, but she caught the other side glaring at her. Maybe it had been more obvious from the other side than hers that she’d cheated a bit. Aeris, however, said nothing... merely offered an ominous smile.

After Samael served, the ball bounced back and forth several times until it sailed over toward Komori, who braced himself for a spike when something gleamed from across the water - namely, Aeris’ eyes. As the ball came, Komori swatted toward the ball - with the wrong hand. He blinked, stupefied, as the ball bounced off his head and landed in the water.

“Huh?”

“That was a dirty trick!” Nena accused, jabbing a finger at Aeris.

“Look who’s talking,” she returned, brushing her hair back and smiling.

Nena snatched up the ball, gripping it tight.

“I think it’s their turn to-“ Rory began when Nena, her hand charged with curse maga, smacked the ball hard over the net toward Aeris.

“Oh boy...” Komori muttered.

Unfortunately, Nena missed her target and ended up aiming for Bastion. At the sight of the empowered projectile, Bastion felt his blood chill, and his instinct immediately kicked in.

“Revelation.”

His eyes became glassy, and he moved as though lead by an invisible trail to just the right spot to hit the deflect the ball and send it rocketing back toward Vayu.