First Time Out

"Well that was odd," Captain Smith says as they watch Sydra run back towards the group and gesture widely. "But I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. Come, let's go and get some of those seapops you saw earlier," he says as he leads Naimo towards one of the food stalls.

Looking guilty, Sydra explains to the group about how he forgot Marie. "Do you guys mind watching my body while I grab her real quick?" Sydra asks as the others start to feel guilty as well.

"Of course, I can't believe we all forgot her, and right after she made us such a nice breakfast," Robert says as he rubs the back of his head and points in the direction behind Sydra. "There is a bench over there that you can sit down on to enter your Arbor Sanctum,"

"Well make sure nothing happens to your body while you're in there," Cidre says as Sydra nods and heads over to the bench. Sitting down, Sydra closes his eyes and enters his Arbor Sanctum.

"Marie? Are you around?" Sydra calls out as he appears above his island and starts scouring it for Marie. After searching for a few minutes, Sydra sees Marie sitting beneath his tree, with a light blue summer dress sprawled around her.

"Oh, you finally came, and here I was thinking you forgot about me," Marie says as she stands up and dusts off her dress. "What do you think, am I dressed right to go to the festival?" Marie asks as she twirls in a circle, causing Sydra's mind to go blank for a few seconds.

Snapping out of his daze, Sydra holds out his hand for Marie to take. "Definitely, and you won't have to worry about walking far, as the group is already waiting outside the festival," Sydra says as Marie takes his hand and smiles.

Leaving the Arbor Sanctum, Marie teleports to be sitting on the bench beside Sydra. Looking around, her eyes become wide at the brightly lit festival in front of her.

"So you decided to come after all?" Erich asks as he hands her a brochure of the festival he had picked up earlier.

"Yes, I thought it would be nice to get out off the island for a bit and see the world," Marie says as she opens the brochure and starts skimming through it. As her eyes stop on several of the descriptions of different stalls, they begin to gleam with excitement. "Oh wow, there is so much to do here,"

"Indeed, we were thinking of going to get some food first, before we do any of the activities," Cidre says as his stomach rumbles loudly. Laughing, Sydra stands up and helps Marie stand up as well.

"Sorry, it's my first time wearing high heels, and I'm not used to it," Marie says as she stumbles forward a few steps.

"That's fine, but where are you finding all these clothes anyway? I don't remember sending any female clothes into the Arbor Sanctum," Sydra says as he holds Marie's arm so she can catch her balance.

"Oh, it's my power. I can change the things I absorb into whatever I want, such as more power for myself, or different items and weapons. Sadly, the things I create aren't on the same level as items created for that purpose in the first place," Marie explains as she reaches over and a pen that Sydra had put in his pocket earlier. "Would you like a demonstration?" She asks.

"Sure, but what could you create from my pen?" Sydra asks as he watches the pen disappear into Marie's palm. After a few seconds, a dark sphere forms above her hand, popping as soon as it is fully formed. From the dark sphere drops a miniature replica of a metal bonsai tree, with light green foliage, and a dark brown trunk.

"Whatever I create has to be made from the same material, and have the same weight as the previous item, but I can change its color and shape. The only time it doesn't follow that guideline is when I absorb it for my own benefit, but there is still a restriction on that as well," Maries says as she hands the miniature tree to Sydra.

"That's a pretty cool power to have," Cidre says as he leads the group in the direction of the food stalls. After paying for some meat cut in the shape of exotic creatures, the group begins to walk around the festival.

As they pass by a strength testing game, Robert's eyes light up and he walks over to it. "I would like to give this a go," Robert says as he pulls out two smaller pearls and hands them to the attendant.

"Sounds good, stand right here and swing this as hard as you can. If the height you send it to is the highest by the end of the night, you'll receive this as a reward," the attendant says as he shows Robert a large stuffed Wind Panda that was holding a bucket of pearls. Instead of a normal panda that was black and white, the Wind Panda had sky blue swirls covering his dark blue body.

"Haha, piece of cake," Robert says as grabs the wooden hammer that is sitting next to the game and lifts it high in the air. Swinging with all his might, Robert slams the hammer down on a lever, which causes a ball connected to the game to be sent flying high into the sky. As the group watches the ball fly into the night sky, Robert hands the hammer back to the attendant.

"Oh my, looks like we might have a new record," the attendant says as the ball slowly falls back down to the game, landing in the center of a platform. Reaching down, the attendant picks up the ball and places it on a runic scale that tells people the height it reached. "Yup, that's a new record of forty-seven meters," the attendant says, causing the crowd that had gathered to begin clapping enthusiastically.

"Ah shucks, that was nothing," Robert says as his face turns slightly red before he notices Marie stepping up.

"Do you mind if I give it a go?" Marie asks as she hands over two small pearls Sydra had given her to the attendant. Nodding his head, the attendant tosses the ball back into the platform and hands Marie the hammer.

"Give it your best shot," the attendant says as everyone becomes quiet once more. After tossing the hammer over her shoulder, Marie tenses her arms and swings the hammer as fast as she can at the lever.

'Crap, what if she is stronger than me,' Robert thinks as he feels a gust of wind leave the area around the lever. Watching the hammer closely, everyone is shocked to see that although Marie misses hitting the lever straight on, her barley grazing it causes the ball to soar into the sky.

"Oops, I missed," Marie says as she hands the hammer to the attendant and looks towards the sky, where the ball is still soaring upwards, already completely passing Robert's mark.

"Uh..." The attendant doesn't know what to say as his face is frozen in shock, just like everyone else in the crowd.

"Woah Marie, I didn't know you were packing so much heat," Sydra says as he pats Marie on the shoulder, and being the only one not shocked by the fact that the ball is still going up.

"Hehe, what did you expect?" Marie says as she flashes her guns, which are very deceiving to look at. Putting down her arms, Marie turns to look back up at the ball which is finally descending. As it hits the platform the ground rumbles and the attendant is shaken out of his daze. Bending over to pick up the ball and place it on the runic scale, the attendant mouth drops open as he looks at the numbers.

"One hundred and thirteen meters... That's... That's insane!" The attendant yells loudly, causing everyone to clamor in amazement. "I seriously doubt anyone will beat that height tonight, so I guess I should just give you the panda now," the attendant says as he picks up the stuffed panda a d hands it to Marie.

"Oh? But won't that ruin your game?" Marie asks as she grabs the cute panda anyway.

"Not to worry, I have another one, and well just reset the game," the attendant says as he pulls out another panda and puts it on display.

"Oo, can I try again?" Marie asks as she pulls out two more pearls, causing everyone's face to pale, especially the attendants.

"I'm sorry... But it wouldn't really be fair for everyone else if you were to go again, please understand," the attendant says as he bows deeply.

"Oh... I understand," Marie says sadly as she puts away the pearls and walks away with the group. Noticing Robert is being extremely quiet, and his face is downcast, Marie reaches out for his arm. "Are you okay?" She asks.

Feeling her light touch on his arm, Robert jumps out of his stupor and puts on a smile. "Of course, I was just in shock of your strength is all. That was incredible," Robert says as he looks around at the stalls nearby. "I know, why don't we go try out the fish-catching game, that one requires a delicate touch, and I'm sure I can win there," Robert says as he picks up his pace.