Act 2: Upheaval III - The Master Weaver and the Arena

Steve becomes very animated when mention is made of the plush dolls and forgets his mouth is still full of pretzels. "Ohf I got shumpf." He opens up the bag of holding and produces one of Nadia. "Theyf goodf quality," he manages to say around the pretzels. He makes sure to let them all see it.

"Oh, they really are," Suzy remarks.

The little girl Saria admires the plushies with wide eyes. Nadzieja however is very flustered that someone created these toys in her image, which amuses her family.

"We should go buy some later," Leon suggests.

The Szef doesn't look pleased by this and tries to change her sibling's mind. "You really should– I mean, this is not–"

"Not what?"

"...Nevermind."

Nadzieja turns away and focuses her attention on the carbuncles while the rest of her family smile at her embarrassment.

Konrad only smiles and nods at the idea.

"It'll become a collector's item after today."

"Wouldf you mindsh signish it?" He produces his favorite pen and tries to hand both to Nadia. "Couldf you makesh it outsh to Zelk?"

"Oh, that one'll be worth a fortune."

"Oh, we should go buy one then," Leon says. "Wanna come Saria?"

"Yes!" she answers immediately.

"What about you Volwind?"

The young man shakes his head and says, "No, thanks."

Mihai notices that he is purposefully avoiding Amber's line of sight. Leon and Saria stand up and leave the terraces so they can go buy these prized items. As for Nadzieja, she looks at the plushy Steve is handing to her, and then back at him. "...Zelk?" she asks.

Steve tries to say something but holds up a finger to indicate wait while he finally swallows the pretzels. "Sorry, I was afraid I'd choke. What I was trying to say is that Zelk is my fiancee. You'd like her. She's also a black mage like me but you are both tough ladies."

Despite his sympathy for the boy's plight, Mihai decides not to interfere in his oblivious sister's love life.

Konrad looks at the races with more interest. "So which of those little guys is going to win, do you think?"

Nadzieja is surprised by this revelation, and so is the rest of her family.

"Congratulations," Master Avalon tells Steve with a smile. "I hope you two live happily ever after."

"You two did seem quite close last time we saw you," Valor says.

"Yeah, good for you," Suzy adds while fist bumping Steve's shoulder.

After hearing this, Nadzieja has no choice other than take the pen and sign the plushy with it. "I'll have to remember to send you a gift then," she says. "Do you have a date in mind?"

Amber smiles at this scene and refocuses her attention on the current race. When Konrad asks his question, she shrugs and says, "I don't know. What do you think Fluffle?"

"Definitely the black carbuncle with droopy ears," he says confidently.

"The black one then!"

"Oh yeah? What about you guys?" he asks the monks. "Who's going to win?"

Mihai looks rather downcast after the happily ever after exchange, for some reason.

The black mage smiles from ear to ear. "Thank you everyone. That's very kind. We are happy. We were supposed to talk about the wedding after our mission was over but we got...sidetracked by recent events. I know I don't have anything concrete yet, but I was wondering if you'd all like to come? I can send you some money if that's an issue but I'd like for you guys to be there if possible."

Valor crosses her arms and shakes her head at Konrad's question. "I have no idea," she admits. "I know next to nothing about carbuncles."

Master Avalon agrees. "I suspect the fairies don't really care about winning either."

Konrad:

When Steve invites the Zerva family to come to his marriage, they seem touched by his offer. "We'd love to be there," Master Avalon says. "We'll have to see if we can make it there however; we're soon going to welcome new orphans to the monastery soon."

"Don't worry," Suzy says. "We'll try to make it happen."

Nadzieja takes a moment to think about it before she answers Steve. "I might be able to come if you let me know the date well in advance."

Konrad looks over at Fluffle and Amber. "I bet the blue-greenish one with the orange-haired fairy will beat them both!"

Steve is quite pleased when they mostly say yes. He hops up and punches the air while shouting, "Yeah! That's so awesome! I'll get that information for all of you as soon as possible! My first non-family guests. So cool."

Nadzieja chuckles at Steve's happy proclamation and says, "I can see why she'd marry you."

Meanwhile, Fluffle voices his disapproval of Konrad's choice. "These two? Hmm, I'd be surprised if they even make it past 6th place."

"What about you Mihai?" Amber asks, having noticed his morose mood. "Who are you betting on?"

Takes him a second to register "I'll take Fluffle's call. Black."

Mihai reaches in his pocket and takes out 2g.

The black mage laughs in pleasure at the compliment. "We always have fun together. I'm sure the wedding will be a lot of fun too. I already have a few ideas thanks to our adventures in Myr."

"Just don't invite any werewolves..." Nadzieja says with a grin.

A new race begins and everyone in the Arena begin to cheer for the twelve pair of fairies and carbuncles who are in the ring of sand. The black and turquoise carbuncles never manage to get further than 3rd place, but they do overtake each other multiple times. The black carbuncle seems like it's going to stay in the lead until the turquoise one uses its lasts reserves of energy to push beyond its limits and finish in 4th place, while the black one ends in 5th place.

"Oh, it won!" Fluffle exclaims. "Congratulations Konrad."

"Yeah, this means Konrad won, right?" Amber asks.