000 - What Makes The Sky Blue

While Rei and Theresa were together looking for their way to the Casino Liner and enjoying this festival, Meanwhile Djeeta managed to find Lyria and the others and now is trying to find Rei.

"Ugh, where is Rei!?" Djeeta's voice could be heard struggling to find Rei.

"Don't worry Djeeta. I'm sure we'll find Rei, but at least we can enjoy this festival while we're here," Lyria tried to calm Djeeta down.

"Sniff....sniff... I suggested coming here because I wanted to go on a date with Rei, but we ended up getting separated... If this continues the festival might end before our date even begin, and our date will be a failure," Djeeta said to Lyria.

"What if we go to Sierokarte's Knickknack Shack? Maybe we can find Rei there?" Katalina suggested to both of them.

"Hmm, that's a good idea Katalina. Then we should go there now," Vyrn nodded in agreement with what Katalina said.

After that the four of them started walking through the festival to Sierokarte's place. After a while they could see Sierokarte's Knickknack Shack which was filled with many people.

After waiting in line for a while, they finally entered the place and started looking for Sierokarte.

"Welcome, everyone who's come to enjoy this wonderful event! Yes, it's the Festival of Falling Flame at last!" They heard a voice that they all recognized.

They turned towards the voice and saw Sierokarte with her bird promoting her shop, which made them approach her.

"Hey, Siero! How's it going?" Vyrn greeted Sierokarte.

Sierokarte after hearing the familiar voice turned towards them and smiled at them. "Oh! If it isn't the Captain and the crew! Are you enjoying the festival?"

But after looking at them closely she realized that someone is missing from their group. "Hmm? Where's Rei? You're usually always together with him?"

Katalina after hearing that could only sigh. "That's the problem, Sierokarte… we came here to ask if you've seen Rei entering this place."

"Hmm, I haven't seen Rei entering this place at all. Besides his appearance is quite striking so I wouldn't have missed him," Sierokarte said.

"So we're back to square one…" Lyria looked disappointed that they couldn't find Rei there.

"Oh! Have you checked the Casino Liner? There is a main attraction in that place where people bet to see who will win the Duels," Sierokarte said to them.

"Duels? That sounds interesting," Katalina murmured when she heard about the Duels happening at the festival.

"Hey, look!" Vyrn pointed at a notice on the bulletin board advertising a free-to-play card game.

"Whoa! 100,000 rupies for the winner?" Djeeta who saw what Vyrn was pointing at is surprised when she read the poster.

"Free? Impossible. There must be some sort of catch—" Katalina said to them, but Lyria suddenly cut her off.

"That's amazing! If we win, we can buy all the ingredients for Rei to cook, Katalina!" Lyria felt excited after seeing the prize money.

"All right let's give it a go! Come on everyone!" Djeeta immediately left Sierokarte's shop and headed to the tavern in high spirits.

Right now Djeeta and the others are staring at their cards in defeat, while their opponents are laughing loudly.

"Hahahaha, all outta luck, huh? Too bad. Now hand over your rupies!" one of the Thugs said to them.

"Hey, you cheated us! Besides, there's nothing written here that says we have to pay if we lose!" Vyrn shouted at the Thugs.

"Gah ha ha! It's too late to argue now. You lost, and now you owe me 1,000,000 rupies! Give me the cash and get outta here!"

"What! There's no way we can pay that!" Katalina looked shocked after hearing that because the amount of money is really high.

"I don't want your excuses, I want your rupies! If you ain't got 'em, we're gonna have a problem." One of the Thugs stood up from his seat and prepared to draw his weapon.

"Whoa there! Let's all just calm down now. You look like a seasoned card player, am I right?" Suddenly they heard a man's voice interrupting their conversation.

They all turned towards the man's voice and saw that he had blonde hair and wore unique clothing the same guy that Rei and Theresa accidentally bump into.

"In that case, why don't you take me on? We can play for this fine crew's debt," the man said to his Thugs.

"Hah!? that's fine by me, but if you lose, you have to pay three times the amount!" one of the Thugs replied smugly.

After that Djeeta and the others stood aside to let the man play cards with the Thugs, and after a while...

"Wh-what! That's not right... You had the perfect hand! But... but how?" The Thug playing against the man lost completely.

"My condolences, sir. They do call me Richard the Fortunate. It would seem my luck is too much for even your underhand tactics," the man named Richard said while adjusting his hair with a narcissistic smile.

"Alas, what goes around comes around, as they say. I suggest you reflect on your deceitful ways," Richard spoke as he pointed his thumb towards the thugs.

But the three thugs looked very angry even their bodies shaking because of their anger then one of them said, "Shut your cake hole, fancypants. No one wants to listen to you!"

"I'll make you regret ever messing with us!"

The three thugs then drew their weapons and prepared to attack Richard.

"You boorish muck! I'll teach you to interrupt a good festival—outside with you!" But Richard easily avoided their attacks and kicked them out of the tavern one by one.

After seeing the three thugs thrown out, Richard then followed them to continue to confront them.

Meanwhile Djeeta and the others looked confused by what was happening as everything is going too fast, from being scammed to suddenly a man in strange clothing coming and kicking out the three thugs.

"Djeeta, we should help him out!" Katalina waking up from her daze first said to Djeeta.

"Oh right, let's go then!" Djeeta and Katalina then left the tavern to follow the man named Richard.

After some beating they right now were looking at the three thugs lying unconscious and beaten up by Djeeta, Katalina, and Richard.

"Phew…" Katalina wiped her sweat as she was not used to fighting with her fist.

They couldn't get too gore by using their weapons since they were at the festival with many people watching their fight.

"All right! Looks like we're done here. Let's get back to searching for Rei already!" Vyrn said to Djeeta and the others.

"KYAAAAAAAAAA" but suddenly they heard a loud scream coming from a direction.

"A scream!? Djeeta, let's hurry!" Katalina quickly ran towards the sound of the scream.

Without hesitation Djeeta also followed Katalina towards the source of the scream. Meanwhile, Lyria and Vyrn also following them towards the scream, but they were slower than Djeeta and Katalina.

Richard also ran towards the scream along with Katalina, and after a while, they arrived at a street where many people were running in the opposite direction.

After trying to pass through the running people, they all could see why many people were screaming.

"What the! Fire Monster!?" They all saw several monsters engulfed in raging fire.

Djeeta, Katalina, and Richard then drew their weapons because their opponents were not like the previous Thugs. "Djeeta, be prepared!" Katalina said.

"Got it, let's go, Katalina!" Djeeta and Katalina stood side by side, ready to attack the monsters.

"Hey, hey, don't forget about me, I'm here too," Richard suddenly said as he walked to their side, pointing his weapon at the monsters.

Djeeta and Katalina nodded in response to Richard's words, and the three of them began to attack the monsters.

They easily defeated the monsters. Djeeta took down her opponent with one strike while Katalina did the same, but Richard needed a few more hits as he was not used to fighting monsters like these.

After all the monsters were defeated they all breathed a sigh of relief knowing that at least no visitors were harmed. "They certainly had a powerful command over fire. Those creatures are often drawn to bonfires and other large blazes," Katalina said as she sheathed her rapier.

"Yes, but they are supposed to be monsters very rarely seen on this island," Richard said to them.

"hmm!? What's up, Lyria? You look like you're sensing something," Djeeta asked Lyria as she noticed Lyria had been silent.

"Hm… I must be imagining things... but when you killed those monsters, I briefly sensed the power of a Primal beast..." Lyria said hesitantly to them.

"Primal Beast? Wasn't that Tiamat you sensed, Lyria?" Vyrn asked Lyria because as far as they knew, the only Primal beast in Port Breeze is just Tiamat.

"hmm yes... maybe it was just my imagination..." Lyria looked hesitant but since she was unclear when she sensed the Primal beast, she decided to forget about it for the time being.

"Well then, let's continue looking for Rei," Djeeta said to them. But as they were about to leave thus place Richard suddenly stopped them.

"Hey, Wait you guys!"

They all turned to Richard in confusion. "What now?" Vyrn asked Richard.

"I helped you out of a real bind in this tavern. You remember, right?" Richard said as he rubbed his palms together.

Djeeta and the others looked at each other and then back at Richard. "Well, yes, I suppose you did. What are you getting at?" Katalina said while crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Well, life is all about give-and-take, right? With that in mind, I'd like to make a small request of you, if you'll hear me out."

After that, Richard told Djeeta and the others that he had previously met a very beautiful woman, so he asked for their help in winning her heart.