[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/4Q1QloC.png[/img] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/180804/59e33c13301c63b568e5eb178a837406.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/z6cC6JC.png[/img] [/center] The Keijo tournament had begun, another round of pageantry and heated competition as the snow was traded for the sun kissed sand. Having done what she could to assist Rachel and Kimble, Alicia had returned to the stands to watch how it all went down. There were enough people competing as it was, she didn’t need to add to that. One match had concluded already, and another was going on between two of Mariette’s posse. Alicia wasn’t as interested in that since she didn’t know the people involved. They were probably all working together anyway to get their precious mirror. Because of that lack of distraction provided by the match, she noticed a familiar figure making her way up the stands. ”Hey Lily!” She called to the girl, waving and directing her to the open bit of stand near where she sat. She fully expected Alexander to show up in a few moments, but the opportunity to chat was worth it. She’d wait until the girl had taken a spot next to her. ”Well, this Christmas thing really went out of control, didn’t it,” she noted with a nod towards the Keijo arena. Lily and Alex were at the spectator seats. Lily was holding a big tub of popcorn with melted butter on top, intently following the dramatic events in the matches. [color=fff200]”"[/color] [color=fff200]”Woo! Go ice girl! Go beast girl!"[/color] She yelled, until she noticed Alicia calling out to her. [color=fff200]”Oh hi Alicia!"[/color] She waved enthusiastically to her, and tucked the tub of popcorn under her arm before grabbing Alex’ hand. [color=fff200]”She’s got great seats over there, Alex, let’s go!"[/color] “[color=aba000]Uh, okay I guess[/color]” Alexander shrugged and let himself be dragged off by Lily, while holding on to his own tub of popcorn The two took their new seats, with Lily sitting between Alicia and Alex. [color=fff200]”Well, I guess it kind of did,"[/color] She answered with a sheepish smile. [color=fff200]”But at least the feast hall didn’t turn into a food fight."[/color] She extended the tub towards Alicia. [color=fff200]”I got some popcorn from Dan! Wanna try some?"[/color] Alicia wasn’t sure her seats were that much better than the ones Lily and Alexander already had, but she wasn’t about to argue the point as they relocated to join her. ”Sure,” she agreed, taking a handful of popcorn when it was offered to her. It was pretty good too, just the right amount of toppings to enhance the flavor without being overpowering. Idly munching on the popcorn, she gestured towards the stage. ”I guess so. Do you have any bets as to who’s going to win?” “[color=aba000]Do either of you even know the girls down there well enough to make any kind of bet? I mean, [i]I[/i] have no idea who either of them are, so I’m not sure if what we’ve seen so far is all they’re capable of[/color]” Alexander piped in. [color=fff200]"I don't know either of them,"[/color] Lily answered, [color=fff200]"But I think the fluffy girl's gonna win it! She looks really strong!"[/color] Admittedly, Alicia had been speaking of the tournament overall rather than this match, but she didn’t feel like correcting Alex. ”I saw ice girl earlier during the sculpture carving competition, and I think I saw her during the raid too,” she offered. After a moment she hummed in thought. ”That said, she seems to be lacking in energy. So I suspect it’ll be her opponent.” “[color=aba000]Fluffy?[/color]” Alexander wondered, not quite sure which one Lily was talking about “[color=aba000]Although now that you mention it; an Ice Magic user in ice sculpture sounds like cheating. I was in a team of three for that, and we had to carefully carve our block of ice. While an Ice user could have probably just out right made their own into whatever shape they wanted. Hell, they could even make it bigger and add some weird additions if they wanted [/color]” Lily pointed to Freya in the arena in response to Alex' question. [color=fff200]"Yeah, her! You can tell she's a Beast girl by her menacing aura~"[/color] She grasped a fistful of popcorn and stuffed it into her mouth as she listened to the two talk about the Ice specialist. [color=fff200]"Ice magic may make it easy, but our ice sculpture came from the heart! No magic can replace that, I think. But I do wonder if Dan took points off of cheating or not. I'm gonna ask him later!"[/color] She turned to Alicia. [color=fff200]"Anyway, I heard that you trained Rachel in Keijo. How did that go?"[/color] ”Do all beast spec users have a menacing aura?” Alicia asked as she glanced over at Alexander. He was a beast spec, wasn’t he? But he didn’t give off a menacing aura, at least to her. Lily leaned against Alex with a cheeky smile. [color=fff200]"Nope! Alex here may seem like a grump, but he's the sweetest guy around~"[/color] Leaving aside her own magically aided show in the ice sculpting event, Alicia instead addressed the question that had been posed to her. ”Training would be a strong word, more like some pointers,” she replied with a shrug. ”She got pretty into it once she started treating Keijo like a somewhat serious sport. Whoever wins is going to have to work for their victory against her.” Alexander snorted at the mention of Keijo as a ‘serious sport’ “[color=aba000]I’m sorry, I just have a really hard time taking this insanity seriously[/color]” He shook his head “[color=aba000]I mean, this feels more like something straight out of a lewd cartoon, than an actual sport. There’s a reason I only tried it once.[/color]” Lily blushed at Alex' remark. [color=fff200]"Yes, Keijo can be a bit embarrassing, but it's also so much fun! I mean, the whole competitive nature to it is so compelling. And when you're right in the midst of it, it's...liberating."[/color] Lily reminisced as she looked out to the arena. [color=fff200]"Like that time I dueled Amaryllis...I really felt like our hearts were closer to each other."[/color] Alicia could understand how Alex felt, and certainly she had a hard time treating it seriously too. But given the stakes involved in this particular contest she had little choice. ”Once you get past the particular tools used it’s not that much different from soccer or volleyball,” she pointed out. ”A sport where you can only use specific parts of your body to accomplish a goal.” But that was as far as she’d go in defending the thing. After a few moments she shrugged. ”Well, anything to keep the mirror out of the wrong hands.” And by the wrong hands, she meant Mariette’s hands. “[color=aba000]I guess[/color]” Alexander shrugged as well. “[color=aba000]I don’t know, I guess I’m feeling a little bitter that this nonsense had to come and interrupt my first real Christmas. I mean, I was just starting to really get into the spirit of things, when the turbo bitch had to come and ruin the mood.[/color]” [color=fff200]“Yeah...”[/color] Lily mumbled with a pout. [color=fff200]“I think Dan done goofed when he gave that mirror to Mariette in public and made Rachel mad. He’s kind of an idiot. But I hope the time we’ve spent here has been fun, Alex.”[/color] She looked to him with an apologetic look. [color=fff200]“I know it has been for me, at least.”[/color] “[color=aba000]I [i]have[/i] enjoyed myself, for what it’s worth.[/color]” He nodded at her “[color=aba000]But I guess shit like this is par for the course in Penrose. It almost makes me worried what will happen on New Years.[/color]” He snarked the last part. [color=fff200]“Yeah, I’m glad-OHHHH, SHE’S DOWN!”[/color] Lily practically jumped up to stand from her seat when Freya struck the finishing blow on her opponent. [color=fff200]“Wow, that match was great, even if it was a bit short! I hope the next one will last a bit longer.”[/color] It turned out that Lily’s wish was granted, as the next match did last longer. However, it was the final match of the first round between Penny and Sam...And it didn’t end well. Lily alone saw the moment in stopped time, her eyes wide open at the fact Penny managed to barely save herself from what otherwise would have been a guaranteed victory for the black-haired girl. Afterwards, she shook Alex’ shoulders. “No way, she stopped time, and still couldn’t knock her out! Penny’s way too strong!” Then, after the most intense combat the arena had ever seen, both of them collapsed, having to be carried away by Maura and Dan. [color=fff200]“That’s terrible! Why would they push themselves that far?”[/color] She asked, her face having turned pale. Alexander shrugged and sighed “[color=aba000]Who knows. I don’t [i]think[/i] they have any kind of personal stake in this, so my only real guess would be pride, subberness, or something else like that. But it does feel like a bad omen, doesn’t it? I just hope that the other matches don’t end like that[/color]” [color=fff200]"Yeah, same here…"[/color] Whatever remained of Lily's joy had crumbled into a sad frown, followed by alarm as she saw what looked like a new source of conflict. While it seemed to end peacefully, Lily still seemed to be afraid. [color=fff200]"Was that Finn and Oliver over there? They looked angry…"[/color] The next match was a far cry from the one before it, to use the greatest of understatements. Where there had almost been something akin to uncertainty on the part of one of the combatants, the match between Sam and Penny was more like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, and both of them breaking. Some part of Alicia wasn’t completely surprised, remembering how Sam had gone after Rachel at the Rave, but it was another thing entirely to see. Looking over to Alex and Lily as they conversed in the aftermath of the match, Alicia could not relinquish her troubled expression. ”Who?” “[color=aba000]A couple of guys we met while Lily was teaching Justine how to play Keijo. They’re new in Penrose.[/color]” Alexander explained “[color=aba000]We only really met them one time, so we don’t really know them that well. But they seemed like okay guys.[/color]” [color=fff200]“I think they’re with Maura and the Crimson Cradle, but I’m not super sure,”[/color] Lily added. [color=fff200]“Anyway, it looks like the first round matches are over.”[/color] She stood up. [color=fff200]“Wanna go get a snack? I’d like to check up with Sakura and Justy before the second round starts.”[/color] ”I see,” Alicia mused with a thoughtful hum. Unaware of the bold declarations Finn was making, she proceeded to shrug whilst worrying. Still, if there was anyone who could recover it was Penny. After everything that had happened, it would be kind of silly for her to die in a keijo match of all things. As Lily rose, Alicia followed a few moments later. ”How are you still hungry after all that popcorn?” she asked incredulously. Was this a Lighting/Time spec thing? Did they have increased metabolisms requiring them to eat more? How come none of the girls had mentioned this before? Or maybe she was just overthinking. “[color=aba000]No clue. She’s been like this for as long as I’ve known her.[/color]” Alexander answered, and then looked over to his now empty tub of popcorn “[color=aba000]...but yeah, more food sounds nice. I just hope nothing else crazy happens while we’re away.[/color]” Lily’s cheeks turned red as she pouted. [color=fff200]“I can’t help it, okay? When I get the case of the munchies, I gotta eat! Anyway, let’s go get a jumbo-size popcorn so we can all get to share it!”[/color] It seemed she would not be getting an answer to her question. Alicia mentally shrugged to herself and put the matter aside for now. “Sure. Let’s go.” Maybe she could find Kimble while they were there. They’d have a decent amount to talk about with how her match went.