Complete Private ✪ Finweald Shields Up, Hearts Open

[Lune]

With only a meter of distance left, Moonsong brought the faerin to the ground, trying to hold him so tight that he wouldn't be able to crawl easily. She already closed her eyes before he declared that the sparring has ended.

"The only reason I won was that you decided not to bash my face while we're on the ground," She added while chuckling, getting off Hanno and dusting off her pants. Can't believe she was having this much fun during the spar.

"Or maybe I just have a good teacher." Moonsong teased, before the tentacle girl walked up to them from behind and praised her. "My hero~"

The songstress looked at the girl and then Hanno, back and forth, "I... have several questions..."

But then she realized that it was already past afternoon and they have trained from morning without any real break. "... Or maybe these can wait. Should we take a break and grab something to eat?" She asked, already feeling the effects of training with an empty stomach. Her hand extended, offering Hanno a hand to help him up.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

At her humbling, the faerin could only laugh and shake his head. "I said we could crack our skulls as far as I care, but that doesn't mean I actually want us to do it." Hanno said to Moonsong, "Besides, you could pummel my face too, so at that point we would just be wrestling... Which mind you, I can teach you someday as well, I do have black belt on Judo." He grinned, then shrugging slightly. "I'd say it could be both a good student and teacher." Hanno huffed a chuckle, reaching for Moonsong's hand and giving a grateful nod as he got back to his feet, mana wings fluttering on his back.

"Questions, huh?" Hanno said, crossing his arms and looking at Ghast, who giggled at him and then back at Moonsong. "I figured you would, and it is fine, I probably know the answer of half of them." He said with a smile, and Ghast waved her tentacle tail.

"Maybe I have the answers of the other half, but maybe I won't tell!" She said, teasing and looking up at Hanno. "Can I have lunch too?" She asked, licking her lips with her purple, scaly tongue.

"You helped us out, so sure, you can stay like this as we eat. But try to not scary the other Lions, they can get a bit jumpy." Hanno said, glancing at some of the spar watchers that were still puzzled at the sight of Ghast.

"So, let's go then?" He said, heading toward one of the buildings.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

"I mean, if I were really protecting someone, I would punch until my arms are no more." Moonsong joked back. And it's true, in a life or death situation she would do everything to keep the enemy at bay.

She looked back and forth at the faerin and the tentacle girl, who looked so similar to each other that they might as well be brother and sister. Especially with the way the girl acted.

"Show me the way," She allowed Hanno and the girl to go first. It's the Lions' home, after all. The headquarters was pretty huge, with many great halls connecting the buildings.

Soon, they arrive at what looked like a dining hall. It's bigger than the Guild's dining hall, but she would see if the food here is better than what the Guild offered. Some Lions Knights are sitting at the tables, eating while chatting.

Looks like they arrived just in time for lunchtime. "So, what kind of food is served here?" The woman looked left and right, searching for a vacant table to sit at.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"That's the spirit!" Hanno huffed a laugh at Moonsong's words, then pondered about her question, casting a glance at the other knight's meals to try and find a hint.

"Depends on what Mimi and the other squires are working on. But with that little, future knight taking care of it, we don't need to worry about it tasting bad." Hanno said, gesturing for the counter near the kitchen, where some squires were serving food. "We have the main meal, and then the side salads, fruits and drinks are on the table." He said, guiding her to the counter.

Hanno was quick to grab a platter, that was soon filled by the squires with a pottage bowl, a small plate of rice, a slice of cheese, and two breads, as he requested what he wanted.

Meanwhile, Ghast held out the platter, beaming: "Everything, please!" And thus, the most chaotic platter of the area was made.

With everyone with their meals, Hanno hurried to find them a table, while Ghast struggled to balance the pile she brought with her.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

Moonsong walked towards the counter, looking at the meals available. There's quite a variety, and they didn't look half bad. Taking a platter, she queued behind Hanno.

She got herself a plate of rice, a small bowl of beef stew (it's beef, right? right?), and a bowl of what appears to be a mushroom salad (hopefully it's not from those myconids). The woman said thank you to the squire serving the food, who didn't question why was a platinum-ranked adventurer doing here.

"Looks tasty," She sat down, looking at Hanno's platter, Ghast's, and hers. "Let's eat."

They began to chow down on the food. The stew (of whatever meat) was tasty, with a lot of umami and a hint of sweetness. Moonsong doesn't usually talk while having meals, but it would make a pretty boring lunchtime.

"So, tell me about yourself, Hanno." She asked, opening the conversation in a light way, trying to avoid downer topics like the game and the deaths. Even with the blonde protector's memories, there are a lot of things that she didn't know about him yet, like the girl beside her. "And about this cute girl, of course." She looked at her, smiling.

Having one or two more people she could count on wouldn't hurt.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"It is hella tasty, we happen to have some great cooks. And I am a chef in our world, so I know what I am talking about." Hanno smirked, similarly going for some good bites of his food, chewing and humming until Moonsong brought a request to the table. Hanno paused, a bit puzzled for a moment before Ghast giggled slightly distorted, wagging her tentacle-tail and looking at Moonsong with a pleased grin.

The sight made Hanno smile faintly himself, letting out a brief sigh and pondering. "Well. I'm just a guy that likes to cook, and to make sure people are good and safe around here." He said, taking a bite of his pottage and giving another second of thought. "And I like having some fun too, of course. I can't lie, this place gives me some heavy excitement that I can't find out here. Even in the busiest days of the restaurant, I work on." Hanno chuckled.

His eyes then peered at Ghast, giving the girl, that was tackling the food mercilessly, a gentle hair ruffle.

"And she is... Well... The result of dropping some dissonance essence on my very first shield. At the time, I didn't really expect a sentient being to grow inside of it, only to come out later." Hanno admitted, casting a glance at Ghast, that huffed and puffed her chest proudly.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

"Oh, certainly. I used to work as a line cook like ten, nine years ago? Chefs have really high standards." She said, eating a spoonful of meat stew, before looking back at him in surprise at the real-world fact he disclosed casually.

"Wait, you're a chef?" Moonsong asked in disbelief, before joking. "Now I can't get the picture of a shield-wielding faerin roaming in the kitchen out of my head."

Listening to Hanno, she couldn't refute that Terrasphere does have its charms despite being a death game. "Gotta agree with that one," she put the empty rice bowl to the side, before starting to munch on the mushroom salad. It was a normal mushroom like the ones you find in real life, thankfully.

"There's this feeling that makes you go back to the game. It's like a drug."

She looked at the tentacle girl beside Hanno, who was eating like there was no tomorrow. "Dissonance... like the Titanius thing?" Moonsong tried to pull something out from the memories she had been bestowed with. "What do you call her?" She leaned forwards, trying to poke Ghast's cheek.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno laughed at Moonsong's visual description of himself. "Actually, that isn't that far off. When I was a squire, and even sometimes when I feel like sneaking into the kitchen to help, I do wander in it with a giant shield on me. She does help me a bit, sometimes." Hanno glanced at the faerin girl, that smirked proudly as she attacked the food relentlessly.

When the woman had agreed with him regarding Terrasphere, Hanno shrugged with a sigh. "A hell of one... Granted, I'm not here just because I find it fun... I simply can't let people continue to die here. Especially those that just had logged into the game." There was a reason he was responsible for both taking care of the UI-Locked, and protecting the well-being of newcomers as well.

With the topic shifting to the girl, she giggled slightly at the cheek poke, smirking at the songstress while Hanno answered- "Yeah, it came from Titanus. Ghast-" "Hanna!" She interrupted.

Taking a deep breath, Hanno squinted. "She loves to do that..." He chuckled, looking at Moonsong. "How about you? Tell me about yourself as well." He said, snatching a bit more food to bite.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

"I simply can't let people continue to die here. Especially those that just had logged into the game."

"Yeah, not when we have the power to protect." So there will be no more casualties. Like Kenji. Gosh, it's so hard to have a conversation without getting constantly being reminded of her failure to protect her own beloved. Moonsong kept a straight face while listening to Hanno's story about the game.

"Hanna!"

"Alright, I'll call you Hanna." The woman chuckled at the dissonant girl's interruption. Seems that she regarded herself as Hanno's younger sister or some sort of that.

"How about you? Tell me about yourself as well."

"Well..." They're in 2033, yet uttering the word `idol` still feels kinda weird. She paused for a while, constructing her sentence that came out as if she was a robot. "...I make music for a living. I sing and dance."

Alright, that sounded so stupid. Her cheeks blushed, Moonsong quickly moved the conversation ahead. "Anyway, the game was a great escape from the real world. Power fantasy, all that stuff. Would be perfect if it wasn't a death game." The woman stuffed her mouth with more salad.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"You are just giving her what she wants." Hanno chuckled, rolling his eyes and shaking his head in playful disapproval, making the tentacle-girl shift her gaze at him and pout, giving him a slap with her tentacle-tail.

"Let me be Hanna!" She said, crossing her arms and averting her face in a tantrum.

Hanno squinted and shrugged before returning his attention to Moonsong once again.

"Music and for a living, eh? That explains your mastery choices." Hanno said with a small smirk. "What kind of stuff do you sing? Maybe I've listened to your stuff someday... Alternatively, maybe you've got to eat at the restaurant I work on." He said, pondering for a moment.

"If you are in Brooklyn, that is." He shrugged, considering the woman's words as she spoke of escaping, raising an eyebrow in a mix of curiosity and concern.

"Seems like it is the most common reason for people to come to this game." Hanno said, before adding: "What are you escaping from?" He asked, but his tone didn't indicate any pressure, just an innocent curiosity as he went for another bite of his food.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

Moonsong laughed as the girl slapped Hanno with her tentacle. The smile on her face was soon replaced with horror as Hanno circled back to the question of what she does for a living. "What kind of stuff do you sing? Maybe I've listened to your stuff someday..."

"Yeah, that's unlikely." She slowly shook her head, before realizing that it was futile anyway. "It's... K-Pop. I'm an idol." Unable to say that with a straight face, the woman avoided eye contact with both Hanno and Hanna.

"Alternatively, maybe you've got to eat at the restaurant I work on. If you are in Brooklyn, that is."

"That's an interesting offer. It's only about thirty minutes away from Boston with the hyperloop," Moonsong looked at Hanno with intrigue. "What kind of restaurant is it?"

"What are you escaping from?"

Moonsong set aside her salad bowl and began drinking fresh lemon water, before exhaling. "The usual. Work stress, pressure, the feeling of helplessness, et cetera. You know." This place doesn't have any of those concerns.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno paused, blinked twice, and widened his eyes. "Wait what? You are..." He, however, paused quickly enough to not just blurt it out loud, effectively making all her effort to keep a low profile gone. With a small smile, he nodded. "Well, that explains, even more, why you are good at this deal. I hope I can watch or listen to it someday." Hanno said, taking a sip of his drink.

"Boston huh? Really not that far." Hanno nodded, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at her question. "The restaurant I work at isn't really specialized in any food, but... It is kinda fancy." He shrugged. "Like, if you wanted to bring someone for a nice date, it would be a comfortable choice. But probably not fancy enough if you are rich." Hanno chuckled, wondering if his comparison made any sense.

Besides, the girl was an idol, right?

"I can guarantee the food is great though. Enough for some escapism too." He huffed with confidence.

Ghast, that was chewing the food, blinked in curiosity as she looked at both. "Boston? K-Pop?" Her eyes swirled. "You keep talking about this restaurant, but I've never seen you working on it." Ghast took a greedy bite of her food, making Hanno smile awkwardly.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

"It's not that hard. Go to the trending page on Youtube, search some k-pop there." The woman leaned forwards, putting her hands on her chin. "You'll literally find me," She chuckled, knowing that it'll be too easy to spot her. "Then go reach me on my social media. I will literally come to your restaurant if you do so."

"Like, if you wanted to bring someone for a nice date, it would be a comfortable choice."

"Shame the person I wanted to bring on a date got assimilated and blew up to pieces." After holding out for so long, she finally mentioned something about Camp Hope. A dark joke, really. But at this point, she was trying just about anything to feel less bad about Kenji. She then forced a chuckle. "I mean, I can just come alone, no problems there."

"I can guarantee the food is great though. Enough for some escapism too."

"Nice. I've never tried fancy foods. Gotta up my culinary game." She exclaimed excitedly with sparkly eyes, downing her cup of lemon water before Hanna asked a question about the things they'd been talking about. Moonsong managed to not choke on her drink as she remembered one thing from the Guild's journal; persons originating from the game cannot comprehend things about the real world.

Crap.

"Ah, we're talking about plans, future plans. Hanno might want to retire from adventuring someday and open a restaurant. Right, Hanno?" Panicked, she tried to quickly bring away the conversation. "Anyway, the food here is really, really good."

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno rose his eyebrow in curiosity. "Trending, huh? So I will have to do a search game." He liked the idea, for some reason having fun with this sort of thing, even if the woman had said it was a fairly easy find her.

The dark joke did make Hanno breath a laugh, though it was brief and he blinked twice before frowning after it. "It will take time for me to assimilate this kind of humor." He decided to make all the joke go from bad to worse, before mentioning the food and culinary. "I mean, if you want, I can give you one or two cooking lessons." Hanno winked, then casting a glance at the fearin girl and pursing his lips in a mild concern.

"Yeah! In the future, when I'm no longer working as a hero." He said with a half smile, and Ghast looked at him with a squint.

"You said you would never stop until everyone in this world was safe." Her eyes swirled. "It will never happen." She said.

Hanno rolled his eyes, looking at Moonsong and leaning in. "Since I will have to reach you there, the name is Brian."

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

Hearing Hanno's surprising addition to the joke, she couldn't help but chuckle. Some say dark jokes are the best way to cope. Probably not the only solution, but hey, it works so far.

"I mean, if you want, I can give you one or two cooking lessons." He offered. Moonsong looked at him and shrugged, "That'll be very nice. I only know homestyle cooking, so it'll be great to learn one or two fancy cooking techniques." She quickly added, "Hopefully not as exhausting as the combat training."

"Since I will have to reach you there, the name is Brian."

"Brian, huh? You certainly look like a Brian guy." She joked again, before the corner of her eyes caught the sight of confused Hanna. "Well, we should keep it under wraps for now before she gets too suspicious and bamboozled." The woman whispered.

Putting the empty glass aside, she declared. "Alright, I'm full!" Moonsong got up and stretched her arm and legs. "How about we resume that training?"

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno laughed. "Nah, fancy cooking is never exhausting. Unless you are trying to make a living out of it." He said with a shrug, finishing his food and raising an eyebrow.

"First one tell me I have a fox face, now another tells me I have a Brian face." Hanno rubbed his chin, curious about the descriptions, but simply taking a mental note of it.

Being warned about Hanna and their conversation, Hanno cleared his throat and nodded in agreement, even though the tentacle girl remained focused on the duo, with an intense gaze that didn't avert even as the conversation was hand waved.

"Y-Yeah. Resuming the training would be nice. We can't waste any second. After all, I have no doubt Astorea will be planning to get some coordinated attack against the Dragonship very soon." Hanno stood up, looking at Moonsong.

"And I have the feeling you won't miss this chance."

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

"Don't worry, I've been called fox face before. I just tell them they're racist." She laughed, before taking her platter and walking to pass it to the squire in charge of washing dishes. The woman looked at Hanna, asking her. "Finished your food yet?"

"Astorea will be planning to get some coordinated attack against the Dragonship very soon. And I have the feeling you won't miss this chance."

Her eyes burn with conviction hearing about the attack on Dragonship. "Yeah," She nodded. "I'm looking forward to that moment." The songstress was eager to inflict back pain on the magia who had done this to her. Her revenge is not for Kenji; it's for her and herself only.

After thanking the squires, they walked back towards the training ground. There were already a number of Lions knights resuming training and sparring. "Alright, now that we are fully replenished..."

Moonsong positioned herself in the middle of the open grounds, before summoning two sizable swords that planted themselves into the ground.

"... How about going all out?" The songstress grinned, pulling out a claymore, and pointed towards the faerin defender.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno huffed a chuckle, shaking his head. "I guess that's a way to do it. But honestly that doesn't bother me much." He said, standing up and casting a glance at Ghast/Hanna, that was just finishing to eat her food, hurriedly after Moonsong's question.

"Ah~! Done!" She perked up, finishing the last bit of food by nearly swallowing it without a bite, looking at the songstress and then at Hanno. "We will be going now?"

"Yeah, we will be doing another round." Hanno smirked, then looked at Moonsong, paying attention to the determination reflected in her eyes. His fist clenched slightly, wondering for a moment if the one she cared for was actually gone. At least, the first time they met, Hanno didn't see Quinn as a UI-Locked... So perhaps...

He needed to investigate it later. It was part of his job in Lions Pride, after all.

Moving along, Hanno went to the training grounds, with the tentacle girl following right next to him before he turned to face her. "Sounds good. At another time we can continue the protection training." Hanno said, gesturing for Ghast to get onto his shield again, holding it and getting on a fighting stance.

"I won't hold back."

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

War is coming. Although both of them are considered powerful individuals, they both know that if they wanted to protect more of the people, they need to break beyond the limit. If such limits existed, anyway.

"I won't hold back," Hanno claimed, now holding the shield form of Ghast back in his hand.

Moonsong held her claymore with both hands, pointing towards the sky as a burning aura burst around her. Both of the fighter's immense auras caused other knights to halt their training and watch from a safer distance. "Same."

With a gravity-assisted boost, the songstress jumped high into the air, shouting her melodic battle cry before coming down towards the readied Hanno, their weapons clashed in a bright explosion of pure aura energy, creating a shockwave that sent the other knights in the vicinity stumbling backwards.

Their valiant effort will be rewarded greatly in their future battle against the cold steel.

@Hanno Futaba