♡ That Time of Year ♡

The time making up the aftermath after Elysium’s attack felt a little surreal. So much had happened right before and after that incident… his guild had grown, and he had even grown a lot himself. Vandrad’s training paid out and transformed Mura into the chiseled manliness he was this morning. His shoulders were a little broader, he had gained height, his hair fell further down his head and he even had a small growth of a goatee coming down his chin. It was pretty amazing…

Now, now, thinking of the past always made him a little depressed. To think that his old team wasn’t around to see him today… man, they would’ve flipped out. Bless them… but before Mura could think any further, he realized that he was a little awake. He was daydreaming… and someone was lying on his chest. Someone warm and welcoming.

This time, however, he remembered why she showed up again.

“I’m awake… *yawn*” he yawned, watching out through the window how the clear sky contrasted the white surface from the snowfalls during this winter. It was in the middle of February, specifically Valentine’s Day – their third year had kicked in. “H-“ he almost spoke, but Mythica lunged herself over Mura and cut him off before he could say a word. She was so ravenous today…

He did rise his body up a jolt when she tickled his ear with her lips, but he embraced her completely once their lips were locked together. It felt as if his body melted… in times past, she would just smooch his cheek and the go on about her day, but not this time. This time, they would open up to each other and indulge in each other’s sensual desires without restraints.

He had such a good time that he forgot that they were supposed to go somewhere… y’know, a theme park by the lovey-dovey company who had sponsored two other events the last two Valentine’s Days. Remember that? No? You just wanna heed to the demands of your little sword friend? O-Okay, then…

“*slurp* *smack* I-I love you, Mythi… *smooch*” he groaned, intertwining his tongue with hers and really digging in, wanting to taste as much of her as possible.

WC: 371/2000

Hnng… theme park brought an end to their morning ‘session’. Mura, too, had caught news of the company’s newest idea sprung to life – a romance-themed park with amusements and games tethered to today’s theme. It would likely be a blast, but damn, Mura felt so comfortable… oh well, he couldn’t spend his entire life bedridden.

Even while she informed him on that, he simply caressed her hips and legs as she straddled him… maybe a quickie was possible- no, nope, fair enough… huuhh. Maybe Mura was overdoing himself, or maybe he just needed to really start this day out awake, alive, healthy – with his teeth brushed and all. Being confined in but a pair of baggy pajama trousers, the shaman dashed to ready himself – brushed his teeth, combed his hair, flexed in front of the mirror and washed his face – then equipped his Toad Sage Gi and a grey coat over it to ward off the cold weather. Hopefully, they sold hot chocolate at the park…

“… Oh, almost forgot,” he spoke up once Kyuken and Zirconis flew into the room with their usual banter, “You two, keep a close eye on the guild while we’re gone. Please?”

“Aww what, I wanted to go visit the theme park too…”

“You don’t even have a partner. Also, sure, yeah, why not, I can do some watching… I need a nap, too.”

“Uhhh, pretty darn sure I do. Lovely, ravenous Menka is my lovely partner - remember when I borrowed Mura’s body an-“

“Aaaaand we’re out of here!” Mura interrupted abruptly, not wanting to have Kyuken bring in awkward instances and stories to weird up today.

…

Man, the park was huge. Rose Garden wasn’t the biggest town in Fiore, but the theme park did some optical illusions with the size proportions, ‘cause holy shit… there was also a myriad of amusements, but Mura was too taken in by the fragrant, red and white colors, the hearts and the perfumes covering the air, the heart-shaped lacrimas laying about and… well, Mythica herself. This would likely be more relaxing than having to deliver chocolate to everyone or attend a stranger’s wedding.

“H-How are they even able to fill so much space? Rose Garden isn’t that big…” he commented on the view, swearing that he could even fathom a few familiar figures in the distance. One of the amusements, however, caught his interest the most… and it even brought a smug look on his face. “… Lovely Laser Tag? Hey, that must be a gun game… you’re pretty adept with firearms. Think you can beat me in a round?”

WC: 435
TWC: 806/2000

”O-Okay, you may be a bit eccentric, but…” Mura softly commented towards her claim. Man, she must’ve been really… really confident in her skill. Maybe Mura would regret challenging her in laser tag, where she obviously had a home field advantage, but he hadn’t wielded a gun before, so he was eager to try and see the trend of hand-held cannons.

Once they entered the amusement, they were given a red vest each. Mura glared at the vest and spotted the small lacrimas dotting it around the chest, shoulders and back. The assistant who handed it to them explained that these sensors reacted to harmless laser beams emitted from their fancy, neon-lit laser guns as a way to simulate getting shot via vibration from the sensors upon contact with the gun signals. Three hits, and the game was over.

However, unlike many other laser tag games in the world, the building had many stages and rooms set for one-on-one duels between lovers. Mura and Mythica were each led to a hallway that split in two, indicating that they’d arrive in a huge room on each their own side. Standing right in front of the splitting hallway, Mura took a quick look at Mythica’s face with little worry.

“Hey, since this is a competition and all, don’t hold back against me. I won’t,” he commented, “But how about we place a bet, if you’re so confident? Hmm… heheheheh-“

Now, he couldn’t just bet something that Mythica was more than willing to give to him, like a kiss, a dance, a quickie in a restroom or cos… wait, cosplay! He got it! He felt so slick and cunning that, for a brief moment, one could see the silhouette and manifestation of Hades’ own form and ambitious embodiment luring behind the shaman. An inheritance mostly ignored, but still present and ever looming.

“How about this… you started a business a few months ago, right? I’ve never seen you complain about finances, so… whoever loses has to pay for our meal at the most expensive restaurant in Rose Garden?”

Once Mythica would state her agreement or denial, Mura winked slyly and entered one of the hallways to let her enter the other one. They would end up on each side of a huge room coated in darkness with only neon lights, blacklight and luminant signs granting them visual fields. The blocks, stairs and poles made the place look like an urban jungle… and that was when he heard the speaker signal out in a young woman’s voice: “Aaaaaaaaalriiiiiiiiight, hope you two lovebirds are ready! You know what they say, ‘Love Is War’, but unlike that famous quote, we’d like for you to tone down on any destructive spells – n-no, seriously, our equipment is very delicate and expensive, so if we see you go all out and destroy property, then you’re paying for the damages! A-Anyway, as long as you follow that rule, the objective is to get three shots on your lovely target – so enter your inner guerilla soldier in 3… 2… 1…”

The lights lit up their neon fragrances with lines of text and other street decorations akin to the Urban Festival last year when the speaker finished: “GO!”

Mura immediately moved forth and soared. It was magic, yes, but it wasn’t destructive… so, he figured. Mythica, if he knew her well, would likely had caught up on that sleek display that they could still use magic against each other, for love is war and was about winning – by all means necessary…

That was, however, if he could find her… see, Mythica had snuck up on Mura many times in the past, which made him realize that her magic power, or the way she used her magic, could not be sensed by him… but that didn’t apply the other way around.

T-That’s not fair, I can’t find her… he thought, holding his laser gun in front of his chest in pursuit of every corner and wall where he could imagine her hiding in wait for him.

WC: 673
TWC: 1479/2000

… Well, this was bad. A minute in, and he hadn’t spotted her yet… nor had he been able to hear her footsteps. Was she able to fly? He knew that she often occupied high grounds and points – she sure enjoyed being on top, huh – but he never figured if she just leapt or if she was able to levitate.

Shockingly, his line of thoughts was interrupted by a laser passing by him. There she was! Mura quickly glared to the side, but… shit, she wasn’t there! Moreso, his back arced to avoid the bouncing of the laser from the side as it hit a wall. He didn’t know that the laser shots bounced off of surfaces like that, but he wasn’t allowed to focus on just one beam – several of them came from the same, shadowy corner further ahead where he assumed that Mythica was hiding under some optic illusion.

The lasers formed a spiral around him due to all the surfaces that they bounced off of. Thanks to his levitation, Mura found himself just in the eye of the storm, but he feared that it was part of Mythica’s plan all along. Is she locking me in place for a sure shot? he hunched, deciding that he had to exit the spiral of lasers in a hurry – Mythica could easily shoot a single beam through the spiral and hit his chest… and even if he dodged, he had so little space that the spiral of lasers would hit his shoulders.

Time to push!

Mura began spinning in the same direction as the light spiral, eyeing the trajectory of the beams. He wasn’t fast or sharp enough to predict a trajectory for his own laser beam to hit a surface and approach his playful wife, but he could try and follow her beam track with his own. The moment he saw the solid beam travelling as fast as he spun, he aimed his laser gun and shot in the exact opposite direction.

Beep! Beep!

He had been hit twice on the shoulders, panicking and trying to exit the tunnel now that his shot had been launched, following the beams all discreetly until it flew straight at the location where Mythica shot her beams first.

WC: 375
TWC: 1854/2000

The laser beam, albeit following the same trajectory as Mythica’s beams from earlier, didn’t hit her… but it revealed her position around the corner, which Mura quickly caught up on. In a heartbeat, he was right in front of her – now, he could draw from his advantages in close-range warfare, possibly disarm her by grabbing her arm, shoot three lasers on her shoulder and then hold her close and whisper words of victory into her ear-

Oh, goddamn it!

Mura covered his face with his arm, but he panicked in his realization that he was open! Therefore, he leapt backwards in a flip and covered a few meters between him and where Mythica was a moment ago… the blinding light served as a smoke screen. Gosh, he was so close… but he had to keep his guard up. One more shot, and he was out – could he turn the tide? Did he have what it took to do a comeback?

Her voice did poke his nerves… it was fueling his anxiety. It was strange just how creepy and looming Mythica’s voice could be when spoken through a veil of shadows – usually, he found her voice elegant and refined, but this was straight out of a horror movie. Even then, she still encouraged him to find her in the darkness… that much, he could do!

… Wait, that red fog… he thought out when spotting the red substance floating in the air – upon a closer gaze, he found it resonating with his magic. Ethernano! He had never seen such concentrated amounts – it was clearly from his hide-and-seek champion of a wife, which really made him proud. He hadn’t felt her magic power before, but this gave him a teaser of her surprisingly deep pool of mana. Why was she revealing her magic power to him now? Was it on purpose, or was she slipping?

Trying to lure me somewhere? he hunched in his head, silently following the trail, As long as I can see… wait, Kyuken’s not here- fuck, I can’t see around me now! He braked in his tracks, overcome by worry over his one life left…

This was very reminiscent of an event. Their first mission with the necromancer – another fear-inducing experience for the young shaman, but he was prompted back then by his lover to overcome his fear. In a way, albeit reduced in weight, he was going through the same thing now…

So he advanced forward. “…” In a moment of unpredictability, he lifted his laser gun and shot at a surface in front of him; he could try and figure out how to do the crazy stuff where the laser beam bounced off of surfaces and charged at their target in a ridiculous fashion, much akin to Mythica’s trick earlier.

The laser beam managed to hit a vertical wall and flew straight back at Mura, forcing him to jump to the side for evasion. “C-Crap, almost hit myself…” he spoke to himself out loud.

The tension was too much for him, so at last, he charged after the trail and intended to end it with a last, ‘sudden death’ scenario… obviously assuming that Mythica was spotted quickly. Man, was she good at this…

WC: 537
TWC: 2391/2000

The member 'Mythica' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

Urrghh… he could feel a shiver travel down his back, a moment of fear overtaking him. It felt so uncomfortable… he could almost swear that it was the work of Mythica’s magic, but when did she possess the ability to create such a terrifying atmosphere? That was nothing like the Mythica he knew… n-not like he knew that much about her magic in the first place, but-

Beep!

“Wha- wait, what?!” he almost screamed out in shock as he heard the last beep, signaling his defeat. The speaker rose its voice once more: “And game over! Ladies win this round, it appears!” He looked up and spotted Mythica looming just above him in a blind angle, having gotten the perfect opening to hit his shoulder. Damn it… well, sucks for him, eh? He came up with the bet to begin with, so he’d better suck up to it.

“Fine, fine… hopefully, I’ve saved up enough,” he commented. While he did make a mint as Guildmaster, most of the finances went to the reconstructions and maintenance of the guild hall. Mura had never complained about his own finances before, so… maybe it wasn’t too bad? He and Mythica would get to eat out together, much like back in Shadow Island.

… Now, as if today hadn’t taken a turn for the bizarre, the next amusement that caught their eyes was a kissing booth. Mythica… wait, what? Mythica, of all people, was eager to go and try it out! What was going on with her? What if-

“W-Wait, Mythica, wait a second-“ Mura tried to protest – his little, jealous heart came to show, “What if some creep is on the other side-“

Alas, she was already ready to receive a stranger’s kiss… hell no. He wouldn’t allow it, so he swiftly channeled his magic one more time and rounded the corner to the other side of the booth while Mythica had her eyes closed, before he leaned in to claim her kiss which was for him and him alone…

WC: 337
TWC: 2728/2000

The member 'Mura Kensho' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

…

…

…

Yeah, whatever crazy magic was in play, Mura was not a fan. By God, Mura was not a big fan of that.

It felt like jelly got stuck on his lips afterwards, in which he spawned water from his hand and gave himself a baptism. Mythica, on the other hand, had been under the illusion that Mura kissed her… well, good for her. He would just ignore the fact that a random girl with the most glossed lips of mankind smeared it all over his own lips – like, why? He’d rather be found kissing anyone else…

He kept his mouth shut after his mouth wash. He… he just wouldn’t say anything else to Mythica about this; instead, he’d beg for them to take one of the rides where he could wash his mouth again… with hers.

WC: 139
TWC: 2867/2000

-END-