-Break-
Location: Cursed land District of Căderea-dracului
Sitting on a bench with some pīrāgi in hand, Maple, Suzuka, and Willow all take bites into it, and say, "AHHHHHHH!"
Maple says, "It's so savoury, and meaty."
Willow says, "Helping Ilus was definitely worth the effort for this meal."
Suzuka says, "I could eat this every day of my life."
They all take more bites, and Maple says, "Where did Iancu go?"
"He went for a walk around that way. He has been mopping since Orb helped Ilus, and doesn't seem to want to interact with us."
Willow says, "That's a lot of detail for someone you hate."
"I happen to keep track of my enemies so I can kick them when they are down, and laugh."
"I really wish you'd be nice to him, Suzuka."
"Unlike you, Maple, he is a big bully who deserves to be sad."
With a smile, Willow says, "I see what Orb means when he calls you cute. You're just like Maple in the way you pretend not to care."
Maple turning says, "Shut up and stop flirting."
Willow grabs her nose and messes with it, then moves his head to Suzuka. he says, "I heard there is an ocean that sad people throw themselves into around the corner. Apparently, it's part of a ritual to cleanse oneself from sadness, but sometimes people with no friends to pull them out accidentally drown."
Tapping her foot, she says, "That sounds so stupid, people should really know better."
Standing up, she turns to Willow and says, "I need to go use the toilet. I will be back!"
Looking at Willow, Maple says, "That all sounded really convenient."
"Because it's all a lie, but I doubt Suzuka is the type to worry about the validity of things when someone's life is in danger."
Glaring at Willow, Maple says, "You seem really good at dealing with her. How great the chemistry between you is."
"Because I have been training myself to deal with her type all my life."
Pinching Willow's cheeks, Maple says, "Whatever do you mean?"
-Break-
Using her tails, Suzuka rolls her body into a ball and rolls around the streets, looking for Iancu. She bounces and spins herself around while saying, "Where is that toilet?"
But as her eyes meet Iancu by the side of a bridge, Suzuka rolls out of her ball and drop kicks him saying, "You really plan to ruin the festival and drown just because you won't make friends."
Grabbing her waist, Iancu says, "What are you talking about?"
"I saw you about to jump! Don't lie to me!"
"HAVE YOU GONE INSANE! I don't plan on jumping."
"Lies don't work on me, Iancu, I am going to hear the truth, no."
Iancu says, "No!" And then tries to grab her, but Suzuka takes his arms and puts him in an armlock.
Then, hearing Iancu's thoughts, she freezes. Then, after relaxing, she says, "Are you jealous of Orb?"
Iancu, with his freed movement, flicks her on the head and says, "Stop being a peeping tom and just leave me alone."
He get's up and tries to walk away, but then following behind him Suzuka says, "You really are jealous of Orb! How stupid. Don't you know he is your friend? You shouldn't feel like that about friends."
Turning, Iancu says, "First of all, he isn't my friend. Second of all, I don't want to hear that from you."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You act as if you wouldn't love to be in Maple's position. Friends, family, a communicator who loves her, a husband, and a dream to accomplish, which she makes a way for. Compared to you, who will never have ANY of that, it must sound amazing."
Suzuka lowers her head, grabs her skirt, and says, "I hate you."
Then, turning, she starts to run away, and Iancu, after pausing for a moment, grabs her shoulder, but the moment he touches her, she reflexively sends him right over the bridge into the river below them.
Iancu, activating his legacy, removes the gravity around himself, suspending himself into the air, and he says, "Just listen!"
Suzuka, still enraged, forms her tails into a fist and slams him right into the ground, but then all around her, the nightmares start giving her glares, and her face turns red.
Running forward, she says, "I AM SORRY, I WILL DIE NOW!" Then jumps over the bridge into the water.
-Break-
Sitting in the bridge's underpass, Iancu, with his back facing Suzuka, looks at his clothes drying in front of him, and says, "What kind of idiot just jumps into a river?"
"Shut up or I will hit you."
"Please don't, I really don't want to have to burn my eyes after seeing you in you're underwear."
"You're a pervert."
"I think the girl who put us in this situation is way more of a pervert than I am."
"Shut u-, I am sorry."
Sighing, Iancu says, "No, I am sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did; it was rude."
"I didn't know you could apologise."
"My mom would kill me if I didn't."
"I have a whole laundry list of things for you to apologise to me for."
"Don't forget you started this by drop kicking me."
"I only did that to stop you from jumping because you have no friends."
"Like I'd kill myself over something so stupid."
Digging her face into her legs, Suzuka says, "Being alone isn't stupid, it hurts, it hurts really bad. Friends make that easier, so I don't want anyone to feel like that or for anyone to do stuff that would make them not have friends. Orb is annoying, but don't hate him because he is a really good friend."
Sighing, Iancu says, "I don't hate him."
"But then why do you feel jealous?"
"It's becaus-, no, this is stupid. It's nothing."
"Come on."
"No, I don't want to talk to this, especially not a girl who can't be honest about anything."
Taking a deep breath, Suzuka puffs up her cheeks and then lets out a giant scream, which shocks Iancu. Then she says, "I am jealous of Maple."
Looking down, Iancu says, "Really?"
"Yes. Maple is able to do so many things I can't do, and she is loved by so many people. It makes me hate her just like I hated everyone in Seirei, and it makes me hate myself even more. She chose to be friends with a pointless person like me, and I can't even repay that by being a good friend back."
"You say that as if she isn't obsessed with you."
"I think it's because Orb told her to, it's the only reason I can think of her spending time around me."
"Then just make friends with people who are on your level."
"I can't, only Orb and Cyrus would truly be my friends here, and Tomorrow if Orb, and Cyrus where to disappear I think I would eventually be left alone."
"That's ridiculous, Willow, Maple, and Atalanta would spend time with you."
"I know that, but they just have so many other people as well. Someone who is unremarkable like me will eventually be forgotten, and I will eventually just be trapped again. And I can't stand the thought of being alone, it makes all the happy emotions and thoughts I hear feel far worse than ever. Despite everything I was given, I still can't be happy. What an awful person I am."
Suzuka buries her head deep between her legs, and Iancu takes a deep breath and lets out a yell that spooks Suzuka behind him. Then he says, "I can't help anyone, today with Ilus, in Skydust with the adults, in Elpída with my father and the kids, or in Nialathrú with the beastkin."
"You want to help people?"
"My mother was a member of the Gpd of Elpída. They defended the peace of the place, and were the sole party responsible for keeping the hope of humanity strong over all these years. She was a hero.
Yet I can't do anything she does. I failed to protect the kids, and now Orb blames himself. Elia helped my father far more than I did after my mother's death. I was barely able to comfort the kids in Skydust after losing their homes, and during Nialathrú, I wasn't able to defuse the situation like everyone else did.
I can't lift people up like Orb or my mother does; all I can do is put people down. Even with Ilus, I was constantly racking my brain trying to think of a solution, yet Orb, upon seeing him, changed his life, and brought a smile to his face."
With some tears welling up in his eyes, Iancu says, "I can't do anything while people are hurt or lonely except stand there trying to figure out something while they suffer. It's all I can do, and it's why Morrgian got taken."
Against his back, Suzuka's tails wrap around Iancu, and she says, "I don't think that's bad. Iancu, your mind is always so heavy all the time. When someone is in trouble, it makes it hard to read, just like Orb's. But if I ever knew someone was thinking about me that strongly, I would be able to smile until I die. So even that has value."
As her tails rub against Iancu, he wipes his tears and says, "You're stupid."
"HEY!"
Standing up, he grabs his clothes and says, "You're so stupid and annoying that no amount of bribes could ever force someone to be you're friend."
Turning around and looking at Iancu, Suzuka says, "You're just a big meanie."
Seeing Suzuka in a night gown as her underwear, Iancu pokes out his two eyes, and says, "This is trash now."
Grabbing her clothes, Suzuka says, "HEY!
Iancu, with a smile on his face, says, "I think I should go eat that food Ilus made us."
"Get back here, you!"
As the two run off under a bridge, Orb, standing on a building in the distance with a basket in his hand, says, "It seems they made up nicely. I guess this means I don't have anything else to do. Now it's time to get going."
-Break-
Location: Cursed Sky District of Căderea-dracului
Dress like a little butler without a coat, Orb stands in front of a giant mansion with two large gates outside of it, and shakes, as he says, "I can still run away, I can still run aeway, I can still run away and chop my head off!"
But walking up the front of the door, a woman with a giant green bother and large muscles in a maid's outfit says, "You must be Dragoste. Guess what? Aren't you?"
"Y-Y-YEP!"
"He says he will be running a bit late, and that we should just invite you inside."
Orb nods his head at suck incredible speed that the wind starts to suffocate the maid.
"SORRY!"
"Don't worry, you must just be excited. Follow me this way."
As the gates are open, Orb is guided into the mansion, and in the entrance, he finds a hauntingly beautiful home with bones and roses scattered everywhere, along with multiple sculptures and paintings with wildly varying styles scattered everywhere.
But the first thing that caught his eye was a painting hanging up in front, hanging opposite the front entrance. It is a painting of a woman with white hair with pink highlights, and of a young man with dark blue hair, along with two kids in their arms.
Orb body comes to a halt as he sees it, and the maid beside him says, "That's our lord Dragoeste family. His mother, father, and sister. It's a treasure of his."
Staring at the face of the young, beautiful couple in the photo, Orb smiles and says, "You're prettier than I thought, Captivant, and you're far more gorgeous than I ever imagined, Draga."
The maid beside Orb says, "Ehh, what?"
Orb's hair turns blue out of embarrassment, and he constantly shakes his head from side to side, saying, "IT'S NOTHING!"