[ IC ] Hotel Atlantica

[Thar]

Another day on the job, and Frank DiVante was spending most of the day sleeping on a branch that reached out over the restaurant of the Hotel. With his head rested on his hands, his eyes were lightly shut as he found bliss in the breeze while the murmuring from inside the restaurant gave him the illusion that he wasn't isolated from people.

 

"Why not just go inside and be social?" Frank could hear the whispers of the tree that he rested on, which he sensed had a touch of tease to it.

 

"Bah, but this breeze is so wonderful!" Frank chuckled with glee, taking a deep, refreshing breath, "Besides, if I were to go in there, I'd have to eat something, and I already had a freshly grown ear of corn not too long ago."

 

"That's hardly nutritious," the tree whispered, "You also need meat and dairy. You don't get those from plants."

 

"I'll eat something substantial eventually," Frank only waved off the tree's words, refusing to get out of the position he was in, "I'm not that hungry, really."

 

"Maybe that's why you're so thin. You should gain some poun-"

 

"I told you, I'm no-" Frank's words were cut off by the branch snapping under his weight, making him topple over and fall. He could hear the tree crying in pain as he pervasively apologized while falling, landing with a loud thud on the roof of the restaurant. He loudly muttered an "ow!" as he struggled to get back onto his feet, however continuing to fall on either his face or his back, making more thuds, "today is just not my day!"

 

"You alright?" the tree's whispers still had a trace of tears rippling through them. Frank looked up with a sorry look in his eyes.

 

"Really, I'm sorry..." he groaned as he finally got to his feet, "I guess that means I'm not that thin after all! Haha!"

 

"No, I think I'm just getting old and brittle..." the tree scoffed. Frank only rolled his eyes as he found the strength to jump off the edge onto the grass below. He looked through the window, hopeful that no one noticed the noise he was making. His face was red regardless.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Wait, you're a boy?" Camille nodded dumbly, he knew she knew this but...maybe dragons tend to forget things like that..."Hopefully Artemisia will forget too and I won't have to worry so much..." But maybe this means Tiamat will leave him be...The dragon's next words shot down the slight hope that had started building.

 

"Still, I'm not really trusting anyone else to help me with this. Elizabeth will only make things messy, the penguins are horrible at this, Artemisia's boyfriend is just horrible in general, and hell if I'll let Ouroboros be close enough to me to help me with this. "

Camille wanted to defend his friend but he had to admit she had a point. Lizzie would likely cause a disaster. Not that the logic made Camille feel any better. In fact the more Tiamat spoke the more Camille realized this was happening one way or another. That is...unless she is joking. Hope once more rose up in Camille's chest....for a whole two seconds.

 

"Also, yes, I am serious about this. I'll contact you later, so be sure to start preparing everything as soon as I do, okay?"

With that she blew him a kiss and left. Camille stared for several moments, trying not to think of what was apparently going to happen later. It seems the day was off to yet another exciting start, in the worst ways.

"Still, they were really kind to let me work here...I shouldn't complain..." Camille sighed. "Well I guess I should head out now, maybe Lizzie's getting breakfast and I can catch her before she causes too big a mess."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Calming himself down on the trip back to the hotel by thinking through the chores he was planning on doing, Camille made it back in no time. Mostly because he was unknowingly running towards the other building as fast as his cybernetic body could take him. When his mind was preoccupied he tended to forget to slow down. Luckily the path from the Manor to hotel was free of debris...that or Camille just knocked the debris out of the way.

 

Either way, he reached the hotel and made his way to the restaurant, ducking out of sight whenever one of the demonic penguins came into sight. "I really should try and get used to them but they're so...penguin-y" Camille shuddered. He let out a sigh of relief as he reached the restaurant without any incident. Only a couple nearly traumatic events this morning, maybe things were looking up.

As Camille entered he thought he heard a dull thumping sound on the roof but dismissed it as probably just the wind.

Looks like the dragon sisters were all here, at least they weren't causing too much of a mess. Lizzie too...in her PJs. Camille couldn't help but crack a smile, only Lizzie could forget to change on a day this important.

The smile faded though, as he noticed....him. The creature that haunted Camille's nightmares, the demon who tormented him each day since arriving at this Hotel.

Caleb the security dog

Camille let out a sudden gasp, stepping back and knocking something over, he didn't know what, he didn't care what, he just knew he had to get out of there.

And just like that Camille found himself running for his life away from the, admittedly delicious smelling, food. He didn't know where he was going but wherever it was would be better than what he just left.

[Thar]

Still stretching and walking off the shock of impact, Frank was surprised to see Camille bolting out of the restaurant. He soon realized why; Caleb was in there.

 

"That poor soul. What ever happened to him to be so scared of adorable little Caleb?" The tree whispered.

 

"Lord knows. Might've been a traumatic experience as a- wait..." Frank shot one last glance at the fleeing Camille before he disappeared, "...Camille's a boy?"

 

"From what I've gathered, yes." Tree sounded like an old man who's seen plenty of people exposed in its life, "Don't ask me how I know."

 

"Don't worry, I won't." Frank couldn't help but feel strange talking to a tree who rubs off as perverted, "Still, though... why would anyone not like animals? Some may appear intimidating, but they're really just misunderstood."

 

"Kinda unfortunate that you can only talk to plants and not animals. huh?" The tree responded.

 

"If I recall correctly, Caleb can talk, but I haven't confirmed that."

 

"I've heard his voice. You might as well confirm that for yourself. Might even give you a chance to socialize."

 

"Oh haha," Frank rolled his eyes again, making his way into the restaurant to see a bunch of people gathered at a table, including Caleb. Taking a deep breath, he made his way to sit down near them, clearing his throat, "So... what's everyone getting?"

[Kazooie]

Kaze tensed up as the youngest Leviathan sister crashed into the room, not because of her though, but because of who she brought with her. Taking advantage of the chaos caused by Sirenai and Elsie's entrance, Kaze slowly made her way to the door and slipped out into the hallway, just as the sounds of laughter emerged from the restaurant. From behind her, she could hear the loud cry of one of the younger Leviathan sisters calling out:

 "Yay! Everyone eat!"

 

Kaze sighed and started to walk down the hall, stretching slightly as she heard someone behind her enter the room, and as she looked back she noticed Camille tensing up, staring into the room. "Is that Camille...? What's wrong with her...?" Kaze watched as he began to scoot back, before dashing towards her.

 

"Crap, she's afraid of animals, Caleb is in there!"

 

With that, Kaze reached out to grab Camille's shoulder as he grew closer to where she was, hoping to slow her down enough to get a word in. "Camille! Calm down, everything is fine! Caleb won't chase you, and there are no other animals around here... kinda!"

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Camille was suddenly interrupted in his flight to safety by a hand at his shoulder. "Oh god no he's got me! This is the end!" Camille realized that someone said something but he couldn't make it out, probably Caleb telling him the particularly painful way he planned on eating the maid.

In the back of Camille's mind he realized how stupid this was, and how embarrassing it was to take off like that. Especially in front of some of them... However all he could focus on was getting away from the dog and that the grip on his shoulder seemed to only tighten. "And now the dog learned to grow hands, could this get any worse?" He thought, panicked.

 

And of course, in typical fashion just as he thought this it did. As Camille kept going he nearly ran over several penguins. He tried sidestepping them, but only managed to cause himself to topple over, crashing into the ground hard.

Luckily Camille's body was sturdy and he wasn't harmed by the fall. Unluckily he wasn't the only one who fell. Camille, finally able to focus, noticed a very disheveled looking Kaze next to him.

Camille's eyes widened, she wasn't in bird form, but the memory was hard to shake. However guilt and worry won over and Camille hurriedly said "I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Caleb didn't get you too did he!?"

[Thar]

Frank sat awkwardly at the table, the only thought on his mind being him asking himself why he was even here? He wasn't even hungry, he just wanted to feel like a part of the group. He found that this thought was justified enough to take action, stood up, and walked out the door, thinking to himself that he wasn't hungry anyway. As he walked through the doors through a hallway, he saw Kaze's effort of pursuing Camille and let out a chuckle, shaking his head as he looked back through the closing doors where Caleb was sitting.

 

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Caleb didn't get you too did he!?"

 

"Caleb's still in the restaurant, Camille." Frank sighed, continuing to walk down the hall, "There's nothing to be afraid of." His line of sight appeared distant, honing in towards the exit as he made his way outside to where nature called him. Hands in pocket and head slouched down, the doors closed behind him.

 

"Back so soon?" The tree whispered upon seeing Frank, "Make any friends?"

 

"No, nor did I eat anything," Frank sighed, sulking while sitting himself behind the trunk of the tree where he is the least visible, "If someone needs me, they can call me over, but I just don't feel like putting in the effort myself."

 

The tree was hesitant to speak at first, "So be it. I'm only trying to help."

 

"Yes, and I appreciate it..." Frank pulled his hood up, closing his eyes as he drifted into a nap.

 

"You're taking a nap in the middle of the day?"

 

"I'm tired."

 

"You've barely done anything. I can hear the grass around the gazebo complaining about bugs swarming them up. They could use some cutting."

 

Frank perked up, "I hear them too! Oh my, that doesn't sound pleasant at all!" Frank bolted to his feet and rushed to the shed where his landscaping tools were, not saying another word.

[Maeriberii Haan]

Cher sipped their milk silently as they watched over the ruckus happening on the restaurant from a corner there, seemingly content in spending their morning in relative peace while they waited for the hotel to reopen properly. Apparently one of the maids got scared off out of the room by the security dog, somehow. Hey, despite being cat-like, Cher had little to no reason to be afraid to dogs, so seeing that maid be that scared was quite hilarious, though, Cher held their voice down, not wanting to draw any attention to them.

 

See, they shouldn't even be here at all at that moment, technically speaking. Since the hotel was closed down during its renovation, mere guests like them shouldn't be around, especially not mingling near the staffs before the opening time. But in Cher's case, they managed to strike a deal with the owners of the place to let them stay during the course of the renovation after they gave the owners quite a hefty sum of money, more than what's needed to pay the normal rent for the bungalows.

 

Wearing only a tank top and hotpants, it might seem that Cher was intentionally trying to lure people to them, giving a sexy vibe, but it's more that their bungalow's air conditioning system broke last night. While they could just skip the entire thing and just wear nothing since there's "absolutely nothing inside", as they said, last time they tried that here didn't really end well for them, so they had learned a lesson to only do that on the beach itself.

 

Not long after that, they realized that they're hungry, and the delicious aroma coming from Miss Lexi's cooking became stronger and stronger. While they originally planned to wait until most people there left so they could enjoy the food with minimal disturbance, they ended up failing to resist the temptation of the seafood, and thus, Cher left their seat and walked straight into the table, took a chair for their own use, and prepared themselves to start eating, all without saying a word.

 

Only a sigh left their mouth when they realized that their plan to not be noticed didn't work that well this time.

 

---

 

"Work better, you imbeciles! We don't pay you to half-ass this job!"

 

Ouro walked around in circles impatiently while shouting orders to the group of workers doing the final touches for the soon-to-be opened Paris Wing. Noticing that they were pretty much half-assing their work only because it's the final day of the renovation, Ouro became more and more irritated, since she really wanted to make this tribute to her deceased son to be as grand as possible, and thus, she wouldn't tolerate any imperfection existing there. When she noticed one of the penguins accidentally slightly damaged a carving, she decided that the workers would probably work better when they're under pressure. As she manifested two big serpent heads from her shoulders, she called out to the workers around her, to make sure they her the attention.

 

"Now listen to me, imbeciles! If any of you screwed up again today, I shall devour you completely, and there won't be anything stopping me from doing that. So, please do your damn job well, dammit!"

 

The workers immediately returned to their work after listening to Ouroboros and seeing her manifested serpent heads, seemingly more determined to finish their task even when their skin paled. It seemed that most of them decided that slacking off on the job wouldn't really worth being eaten whole,

 

---

 

Instead of eating her food, Liz spent most of her time jealously staring at Lexi and Sirenai's sisterly bond. She's really really really jealous of Renai for having a sister to tend her and care for her, she's also jealous of Lexi for having a sister to tend to and for being really happy in doing that. At times, Liz craved for others to care for her like people cared about Renai, having spending an unknown amount of time warping around aimlessly in all her lonesomeness. Her attitude and way of thinking might not really usual or comprehensible, but she still desired the caring touch of others, just like any child would.

While being frustrated, Liz accidentally dropped her plate and her food to the floor, but, not even the sound of it shattering stopped Liz from staring at the tender moment between Lexi and Renai, though at least it's hard to see for the others about what she was thinking that time.

 

Then, it became very clear that she was getting more and more drowned in a trance-like state of jealousy to the sisters, as her fists couldn't stop shaking, as she became more and more detached from the world, even moreso than normal. And then, she suddenly lashed out, launching herself directly to Lexi from her position, as she tried to hug her while pushing her down to the floor. And without anyone else aside for herself knowing why, she started to sob as she still keep on trying to hug Lexi.

[Aix]

The boiling... rolling... swishing, and droning lullaby of the waves on the seashore. Coming to Hotel Atlantica, it was a sound the deaf elf frequently wondered about as he began and finished his daily rounds on the white sands of the beach. He knew the sound once, or its like, in a long elusive memory. A child putting his ear to a conch shell, and dreaming of the ocean.

 

And yet those days were not happy memories, for they were always poisoned with fear and abuse, the only other moments were of sad tenderness when he was alone, or with his mother. His memories that came after that were of horror, and of grief, and then of back-breaking toil, and of utter isolation. He had wandered past the wonders of the worlds with not a thing to show for it.

 

But if he truly had happy memories, he was making them now, here, at Hotel Atlantica. The dream of the young elf with the conch shell came true. These pristine beaches. The lazing palm trees. The endless supply of laughter and cheer. His deafness was of little matter, for there was much to be thankful for. The phone in his pocket buzzed as it detected Lexi's call, and Baldr broke into an uncharacteristic jog as he ran for breakfast.

[Mugendramon]

The lifting was swift and precise, as per Tess' usual skill. A faint smile and a nod were all she gave as a thank-you, too embarrassed for anything more after she just called her because she couldn't get back up. She was about to run out, but insight (or, cough, hindsight) let her know she was missing something. When bringing her hand to her chin to think with a pose, the answer made itself apparent. She put on a shirt then.

 

Where to go now? The crane had taken more time than usual, thanks to her awkward starting position. Breakfast was surely ready by now; there were no penguins running in the hallway anymore, and the unmistakable murmur from a faraway crowd was coming from the restaurant lounge. "Sorry to hold you up, Tess!" Amber managed to yell into her room (because that's obviously where Tess was to her. She liked to keep a reference on the last place she'd seen Tess at, so as to not be overwhelmed by the borderline godlike idea of her being everywhere at once).

 

One rapid gallop later she stood at the door of the longue, and the scene made her hold back a chuckle. Penguins running around everywhere, the two staff animals knocking people down; even the Leviathans were sitting down like they weren't the massive, millenia-old monsters they were, just eating breakfast with the crowd. No sight of the Maitre d'ouche, either! A good morning indeed.

 

She considered ushering a general hello, but she didn't exactly want to gather a whole lounge's attention on her. So she just walked her prosthetic legs toward the standing bar, and ordered a virgin piña colada. Maybe someone would come talk to her, she really didn't want to force anyone into conversation.

[Kazooie]

Kaze yelped as she felt the tug from Camille's running pull her off her feet, leaving her being dragged along with him as he continued his panic-fueled flight. As he dashed down the hall, Kaze attempted to plant her feet back on the ground to keep him from charging anymore, but that clearly failed as he attempted to sidestep a group of the demonic penguin servants, causing him to trip over himself and send not just him, but Kaze flying into the ground as well.

 

Kaze whined a bit as she landed, the crash causing her to catch a few scrapes and cuts along her arms and legs, shaking as she tried to sit up a bit. The worst of the impact seemed to have been caught by Camille's robotically enhanced body, but Kaze still let her head fall back as she tried to adjust to the massive headache that was now plaguing her.

 

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Caleb didn't get you too did he!?"

 

Kaze attempted to sit up, only for the throbbing pain in her head to force her back to the ground as she opened her eyes, seeing Camille standing over her, "Camille... Dogs do not... Have hands, they cannot grab your shoulder..." 

 

She attempted to sit up once again, yawning a bit as she winced from the headache. "Caleb didn't follow you, he didn't even notice you running away from the restaurant..."

[Thar]

The gazebo was practically shrouded as Frank could hear the moans and groans of the irritated and frustrated tall grass that became the home of several bugs. As he stopped to observe, he was still on his way to the shed to pick up the lawn mower, but it seemed too thick for it to handle.

 

"Frank, how about instead of fucking around and standing there staring at us, how about cutting us to get rid of these fuckers, eh?" The grass spoke in a mass with almost simultaneous voices albeit mostly following the first speaker with similar but different cusses and demands. On cue, Frank continued to bolt towards the shed, returning with a scythe in hand. He swung like Death himself as the grass flew through the air like Sauron swiping men away at Mount Doom (in other words, he made them fly!). With each swipe, groups of grass made raunchy sighs of relief as the bugs within swarmed out, making Frank shield his eyes and reflexively swipe his hand across the area in front of his face. Squeals followed. These struggles only delayed his progress slightly, but as he finished, he looked at the not-so-refined look of the lawn.

 

"Well, I might as well mow what's left. You guys all right with that?"

 

"Yes, that'd be great!" The grass yelled back, "I don't wanna be taller than this goon right here!"

 

"Ah come off it, ya whistle!" Arguments fired back and forth amongst the mass, which made Frank go to the shed regardless to put the scythe away and roll out the mower. Pulling the string to start it, he passed through the area until it all laid flat and refined. The result gave him a feeling of satisfaction.

 

"Congratulations, you got yer wish. You want some fertilizer or somethin'?"

 

"Guys, stop arguing. Seriously." Frank rolled his eyes in annoyance, going to put the mower away, "At least I went out of my way to make your lives less of a bitch to live, right?"

 

"...right" the grass said in unison, which made Frank chuckle as he shut the shed doors.

 

"Dinner time!" Frank reached into his coat pocket, pulling out an open pack of tomato and cucumber seeds. He picked out one of each, walking over to the garden where the soil was rich and fertile. Planting the seeds beside eachother, he raised out his hand, watching as buds grew out like daisies and soon grew to make a fully ripe tomato and cucumber. Without hesitation, he picked them both, biting into them with an almost teary face of delight.

[Aix]

There was the clash of china shattering, and then, a flurry of movement, before Lexi fell onto the ground. Surprised and uncertain, Lexi stared up at the girl who had managed to pin her, her eyes wide with wondering as she attempted to glean sense in the situation. The other girl let out a few strangled noises, and the furiously beating of the Lexi's wings gradually slowed to a halt.

 

"L-Lizzie?"

 

Lizzie was crying. The girl, confused by her own actions, could only helplessly sob as she continued to cling on to Lexi. Utterly unperturbed by the suddenness of the assault, Lexi simply reached her arms around the girl's back, and reciprocated the hug with a warm smile. She pulled her in as close as she could, and relied on the sole charm of physical contact with another living being to heal this girl in her arms.

 

Artemisia had reacted first, she sprang right over, her draconic and sisterly protective instinct flaring as she prepared to wrench the girl off her family, however Lexi's bright eyes had stopped her. Frozen for a moment, she then gently knelt down next to the girls. And although unknowing of the extent of the other girl's jealousy, Lexi only knew that she should continue to hug her. Outside, a quiet, but warm sun shower commenced.

[Tesability Black]

An out-of-place flapping sound became momentarily heard from the crane as it powered down and returned to its resting position, leaving behind no sign of the NetMonster being there in the room to begin with. Well, that was one thing most maids liked about this particular worker, no worry of a mess when she left.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Figuring that she should probably swoop past to see if any messages needed to be delivered, the projector upon the table lit up before she appeared above it, flapping her wings as she kept afloat in the air. Sure, she didn't need to do it, but it helped her remember that she was not just a mere hologram. She's still a living, breathing...well, maybe not the breathing part, but she is a living being still, no matter what the others may believe.

 

"Anything need doing," she asked to those around her, wondering if anyone would respond to her question.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Caleb's still in the restaurant, Camille. There's nothing to be afraid of."  "What, who said..." Camille looked around for the source of the words and only saw Frank wandering away. Camille hadn't even noticed the landscaper, he has a strange habit of blending in wherever he goes it seems.

Camille turned his attention back to Kaze, who was trying to get up. "Camille... Dogs do not... Have hands, they cannot grab your shoulder..."

Camille flushed at the obvious logic, which made much more sense now that he wasn't running for his life. "Caleb didn't follow you, he didn't even notice you running away from the restaurant..."

 

"I know I just...I panicked...He's just so scary..." Camille shuddered at the memory. Shaking his head, Camille helped Kaze to her feet, focusing on how human she looked and not how bird she COULD look. "I guess you were trying to help. Um...Thank you." Camille blushed, realizing how much trouble he must have caused. "Anyway. I...really should try and get some food, I don't want to pass out in the middle of work...." Camille turned to look back at the restaurant. He took a deep breath as if readying himself for battle. "S-see you later I guess."

 

Camille made his way back, all the time his mind was at war. "Don't do this it's a trap." "Food is good, you need to eat" "But dog." "You shouldn't work on an empty stomach." "BUT DOG!" "Lizzie still needs to be reminded to change." The last one did it, he had a goal now. Two in fact, two goals and only one, utterly frightening, reason not to.

 

Camille stood in front of the restaurant. "If I can't see it, I can't be afraid of it, right?" He muttered hopefully. Closing his eyes he stepped into the room....

 

And heard a crash, and a yell. "L-Lizzie?" "What happened...do I hear crying?" Camille thought. And in his concern he forgot the reason he had closed his eyes, they snapped open and saw a strange sight, Lizzie, having apparently tackled Lexi to the ground, was now crying. And Artemisia was standing there, looking like she was barely holding back her anger.

Camille hurried over to the girls and knelt down besides them.

"Lizzie, Young Mistress Lexi, are you two alright? What happened?"

[Lunar Origins]

At the breakfast table

Elsie sat, mostly in silence, eating her small amount of cookies.  It was habitual for her to cover her mouth when she ate, as to make everyone a little more comfortable around her.  Chewing with her mouth closed, given her condition, was naught but impossible; as such, eating in groups, or even eating in public, for that matter, was difficult for her.

 

Nonetheless, she felt more comfortable around these people than she ever did anyone else, and she silently sat there as the events of the morning unfolded.  There was quite a bit of commotion - mostly coming from those that were in the same position as her.  Everyone, bar the dynamo that was Sirenai, was rather calm, and even she seemed winded to Elsie.

 

Finishing her cookies, she pushed her plate a little bit forwards and used her napkin to clean her face.  Arising from her seat, she bowed - first to the Leviathans, and then to the others.

 

"It's getting to be close to opening time;  I think breakfast has gone on for long enough.  I'm sorry I haven't been so talkative this morning.  The stress of opening is getting to me, a little.  I think I should run on back and prepare my night stand for opening.  Siri wouldn't be too happy if she had to prepare all of that stuff, herself, so yeah..."

 

And with that, Elsie slinked out of the room, trying not to be noticed.  Being around all of these people, combined with having to eat, really got to her, but that was alright.

 

 

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

“With them being this focused on their job, I might be able to sneak into the restaurant to get some morning coffee and return here without anyone noticing me gone. Yeah, sounds like a plan.”

 

---

 

Warmth.

 

As Lexi tried to calm her down, Elizabeth felt a warm sensation enveloping her body, a sensation that she couldn’t remember, yet felt quite familiar. Her sobbing slowly stopped as the sensation seeped inside of her, while Elizabeth held Lexi tighter and tighter. Even as her entire reasoning of her impulsive action disappeared from her head, she still kept on holding Lexi on the ground, not wanting to let her go. Even as she could hear the others around her, she didn’t care. All that was on her mind was how she wished to keep feeling this warmth, as long as possible.

 

“Wha-

 

Elizabeth, what did you do to my daughter?!” A familiar, yet completely unpleasant voice could be heard echoing inside the room. Elizabeth knew about whose voice was that, but before she could confirm the origin of the voice, someone pulled her away from Lexi forcefully. It was Ouroboros who dragged her away from Lexi and now stared her down, and from her face Elizabeth assumed that she was angry at her. It was very clear, no doubt that she was really angry, but why? Elizabeth didn’t think that she had done anything that would make her angry. Did she forget about her today’s share of work to prepare for the reopening? Did she accidentally crash into something while she’s asleep? Elizabeth continued to wonder about the reasoning, until Ouroboros opened her mouth.

 

“You…If you lay down a hand to my daughters again, I’ll-“ As Ouroboros was just about to state a warning to Elizabeth, she abruptly stopped mid-sentence, going into several seconds of awkward silence instead of continuing her sentence, before she finally dragged Elizabeth outside of the restaurant, probably not wanting her daughters to see her in a really bad mood.

 

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Camille felt frightened like never before. Even more than earlier when he saw Caleb.

Ouroboros was here, and she was MAD. An angry dragon was not something Camille ever wanted to see. As scared as he was, Camille couldn't even hear her words, but he figured out the idea. Lizzie tackling Lexi like that was a bad idea. A. Very. Bad. Idea.

"What do I do...." Lizzie shouldn't have done that but...she must have had her reasons...

Camille stood up. Lizzie was a friend. And Camille couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for her, he was supposed to help her out when she makes mistakes anyway. He can't just leave her on her own. Even when faced with a mad dragon mother...or maybe especially in that case.

He took a deep breath and headed out. Into the mouth of the dragon, hopefully not literally.

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

TIMESKIP YAY!

 

[hr]

Following a somewhat awkward breakfast, and several hours of nail-biting tension (For Ouroboros, anyway) as the penguins and maid force decorate the Paris Wing, the time has come at last. Exactly 1 hour and 24 minutes behind schedule, Hotel Atlantica is ready to celebrate the opening of its newest building. The day is clear, the waters as beautiful as ever, and the sand tortuously hot, the Leviathans looked proud of what they built. Standing before them are the hotel's staff and treasured guests, and in the middle of it all was a very anxious, very nervous Artemisia.

 

She stood atop a raised cardboard podium where she would give her prepared speech and officially announce the start of an all-day all-you-can-eat beach party, but she found herself unable to say anything. The expectant gaze of her sisters and staff caused her to shed cold sweat on her white summer dress. "U-Um... Hello, everyone." She said timidly onto the mic. "Today is a-*BZZZZZZZZ*" Before she could continue, the mic feedback stopped her dead, and she could definitely feel her mother's already low expectations skydiving. "Today is-*BZZZZZZZ*"

 

By this point, the crowd looked somewhat bored, and even Spitfire can't help but sigh at how terrible his girlfriend looks right now. Mother on the other hand was trying to keep her composed smile by stretching a penguin like a plush toy to vent her frustrations. It was a terrible moment for everyone involved.

 

It's too much for her. No more. "This speech isn't me. This is what dad would say." She thought to herself. After several seconds of awkward silence, she finally decided to throw away the script and improvise it. It'll probably fail miserably, but it at least she'd be comfortable doing it. "Technical difficulties, everyone. Don't worry about it. So, uh, as you probably know today is the grand opening of the Paris Wing. It's a happy day for all of us here at Hotel Atlantica, not just because of the expansion, but also because..." She paused for a bit to take a deep breath. "We can now honor a great dragon the way he's supposed to be honored. And because of that, I, Artemisia vi Leviathan, on behalf of Hotel Atlantica and the Leviathan family, would like to thank all of you for your continuing support of this hotel." There was no applause for the speech, but it was to be expected. That's not what everyone came to hear. What they instead want is...

 

"Anyway. Who's up for an all-you-can-eat beach party?!" She said, tearing off her expensive summer dress revealing a striped bikini underneath. "And not forgetting..." A portal suddenly appeared beneath Artemisia's palms, and out came a bottle of champagne. "Free booze!" She shouted, opening the champagne and spraying its insides to the front row guests, namely the Leviathan family. A roar of applause can be heard, and even mother couldn't help but smile at how her imbecile daughter turned a dreadful situation into something lively.

[Tesability Black]

After the second 'bzzt' the mic pulled, Tesability was quick to jump into it unnoticed before kicking out the strange sound from it. Satisfied that the issue was gone for the moment, she zipped out of the mic and back to the hologram projector in the room she used to appear suddenly above the crowd. A smirk crossed her muzzle as the rest of the imprompted speech went through the mic without a hitch, though she tilted her head at the mention of 'booze'. What is this 'booze', she wondered silently as she floated among the guests in the crowd, thankful that there was no possible way for her form to get trampled.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

“…You really have to screw this up, don’t you? Oh well, at least people seems to be eager for the party.”

 

Elsa was exasperated by the sad excuse of an opening speech that she had just witnessed, courtesy of Artemisia. But hey, she did bring some alcohol for everyone, so this time Elsa would probably forgive her. Thankfully for Elsa when Artemisia sprayed the champagne to her direction, she was wearing a simple semi-transparent sundress over her swimsuit, a change of plan that was decided at the last minute when she ended up shifting the responsibility to do the opening speech to Artemisia. At least for Camille that meant he didn’t have to privately serve her longer, and he did seem to be quite relieved when Elsa mentioned that she’d just use her current costume instead of the dress she was planning on using.

 

Now, as for what she should do now, she’s still pretty unsure about that. She could probably try helping the others, but she’s not really in the mood for that as she was determined to completely have this day as a break from her daily routine. She’s not really good with sports and couldn’t really enjoy it, so volleyball was not an option. She considered building sandcastles and entering the competition, but decided against it at the last minute, thinking that she’s probably too old for that. Not having other options, she grabbed the nearest bottle of booze, and started drinking.

 

---

[Aix]

"WAHAHAHA! BEACH TIME!"

 

Lexi plunged down from the sky on excitement overdrive, having arrived late from organizing the penguins to do the dishes and prepare food. Landing heavily on the cardboard podium beside Artemisia, the thing collapsed from the sheer force of the drop, causing the sisters to lose their balance and topple over on each other, with the booze going flying.

 

"Owwie..."

 

Fortunately, Lexi ended up landing on Artemisia, not the other way around, and she picked herself immediately to stand up boldly before the crowd brandishing a large 1.5-meter-long sniper rifle in each of her hands. Where she got these became evident as Baldr arrived to the beach on a hovering gun-selling stand with all sorts of ridiculous magitek water weapons for sale or lending.

 

"I declare war! Die before the might of Alexandria vi Leviathan!"

 

She was fully into this, inspired by the various violent videogames she had encountered over her long life. Nowhere, however, did she ever play a character dual-wielding anti-tank laser snipers. Flipping the gun to maximum settings, Lexi aimed one of the guns a Gol and a massive stream of water ejected from it with enough force to even push the mighty Centaur warlord back.

[Andx]

The opening ceremony was about as chaotic as Caleb could have expected. Sure enough people passing by wanted to hug or pet him and eventually he stopped bothering with counting how many had done so. Things calmed down a little bit as Artemisia began her speech in that at least the crowd was all focused on her instead of moving about wherever waiting for everything to start. The microphone feedback bothered his ears more than he recalled it doing in the past but life was just full of new experiences since coming to the Hotel Atlantica. Artemisia ended her speech and then proceeded with what would be any security team's nightmare: a crazy beach party full of alcohol.

 

"At this point I may as well just try to have fun too I guess." Caleb thought. If there were problems he could handle them as they came up. Moving away from the crowd he found a nice spot to drop off his vest, hat and ear piece which took a minute or two of fumbling around with everything as it always did. Turning back towards the beach he noticed Lexi open fire on Gol with an amazingly powerful water gun. That definitely seemed like something he wanted to avoid. He began a light run toward the ocean but at the same time was trying to find a roundabout way of getting there to avoid being sighted by Lexi. "A nice relaxing swim to start things out, that's all I want. Can't that be that hard can it?" he thought as he was just about to ocean.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Despite the rocky start, Gol'Rahkka had to admit that things were starting to look up.  He'd managed to get the broken table replaced, things had gone smoothly between he and Alexandria getting things organized with the penguins to handle service on the beach, and he'd had time to change out of his tuxedo before getting out onto the beach.  After all, there was only so much that the garment could handle; and with the madness that was likely to be involved in kicking up sand and the ever-present salty spray it was unlikely that he would have been able to avoid ruining the garment.  To that end, he was bare from the waist up with his dark hair hanging down about his head and his muscled, tanned form shining slightly in the sun.  Of course he was still wearing a caparison, but he'd found one that was waterproof and stain resistant that he could use on those occasions when he had to go to the beach.  Not that he much enjoyed the sensation of sand beneath his hooves.  All the same, the opening ceremony was going smoothly enough.  Artemisia's speech wasn't anything special, but he joined in the applause and laughed aloud as champagne got sprayed everywhere.
 
Now, he was somewhat concerned when Alexandria came plummeting down from above and collapsed the podium along with those standing on and immediately around it.  He was about to move forward to assist those that had fallen in getting up, when the Leviathan Middle Child got to her feet brandishing two very large weapons.  Of course he rather quickly noticed Baldr and his magitek water guns, so it wasn't hard to realize that they were toys.
 
"I declare war!  Die before the might of Alexandria vi Leviathan!"  Well, it certainly was one way to kick things off.  He was also very quickly made aware of the fact that this was something closer to the water weapons that would be used by police for riot suppression.  It was all he could do to avoid being knocked over by the blast, but the sand proved to have little purchase for his hooves and so he was pushed quite a ways back before the stream was ended.  He took a moment to shake his head about, sending water flying everywhere, and brush his now thoroughly soaked mane out of his face.
 
"My dear Alexandria," he began, reaching a hand up as a shimmering portal opened up above him, "it seems you need to be taught a lesson."  As he finished speaking, what seemed to be some sort of cannon descended through the portal.  He quickly took hold of it, braced it atop his shoulder, and took aim at the girl who'd just fired upon him.  "Never go to war with a Centaur."

 

With that he pulled the trigger, and a loud concussive sound heralded the weapon's firing.  Much to the relief of all involved, its payload was not a traditional projectile but instead an immense water balloon which popped with great force upon impacting the area where Alexandria was standing as he fired and showered at least ten meters of the surrounding area with the resulting spray.  Yeah, he'd brought the big guns for this.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

After being saved from the wrath of a vengeful mother, Camille barely had any time to ask if Lizzie was okay before being whisked away back to the Manor. He had forgotten his promise to the other dragon mother....And it was even more uncomfortable than he feared. Tiamat certainly made sure it was as awkward as possible.

And now, at the start of the opening ceremony beach party, his trials have not even ended yet.
He had tried to be allowed to wear normal clothes or, failing that, his maid outfit. However Artemisia had all but forced Camille to wear a swimsuit. So there he stood, in a lime green onepiece, standing uncomfortably to the side while Artemisa made her speech. There was a slight issue but Tes seemed to have fixed it. “She’s not bad...when she’s not cheating and...no, don’t go there now Cam...”

He cringed when she sprayed the alcohol, having to restrain himself from rushing over to clean up the mess. He had been told to have fun, not worry about the cleanup....until after the party.
He knew he wouldn’t be able to help mentally counting out every single thing that will add to the after-party work...Like that table that guest just knocked over and that watermelon over there, smashed to pieces.

Camille sighed, “At least they’re enjoying themselves...” He knew eventually he’d be roped into something crazy but for now he just stayed on the sides, watching the various people interact.
And of course keeping an eye out for any animals...especially Caleb...wherever he was....

And that’s when Camille felt the hand on his backside. “Eep!” He spun around, swinging his arm in a horizontal arc. It connected with the side of some middle-aged man, sending him flying into a table full of food. “Oh no! I’m so sorry!” Camille started forward to help, but the stares all around him caused him to pause.
Feeling very aware of the swimsuit now, Camille’s face turned bright red. He didn’t like all the stares, but he couldn’t just...oh wait.
Camille brushed his hand against his chest and concentrated, activating his invisibility generator. This caused a bit of a stir but he ignored it and headed away from the group of people swiftly, dodging around partying guests and staff as he went. No time to waste, he didn’t want to use up the battery again in case of emergency. Hopefully he’d find a more safe spot by then....

 

Unfortunately his escape led him back to the podium....where Lexi seemed to have found a water gun of epic proportion. "I declare war!  Die before the might of Alexandria vi Leviathan!"

Fortunately Lexi couldn't see Camille...unfortunately she was unknowingly aiming towards her. Camille dove forward as the shot was fired, rolling out of the way.

Camille turned back to see what damage it caused, only to see Gol, drenched in water. "My dear Alexandria,it seems you need to be taught a lesson." Camille stared at the probably angry horse man in shock and fright, as he brought forth some kind of cannon. "What is that? He's gonna kill someone with that thing!"

"Never go to war with a Centaur."

And then he fired, Camille jumped up without thinking, standing between Lexi and the projectile. It smashed into Cam, knocking him back even farther before exploding.....drenching the area, and Camille, with water.

Camille's invisibility generator shorted, revealing the dripping wet maid in the middle of the blast sight.

And then a thought occurred to Camille. "You know...I never realized but water gun fights are a lot like that Arcade game I played yesterday." Camille stood, a look of determination in his eyes and a wild grin on his face. "Someone get me a gun." He said. He felt one being placed in his hand, modeled after an old-school minigun. It would do for now. "Game start."

[Tesability Black]

Seeing that no one was responding to her presence, due to almost everyone being in one place, the holographic dragon gave the appearance of silently clicking her tongue before fading from view in the middle of the room.

She had a project to work on, after all...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the past week, there has been the sound of whirring, clanking and banging from one particular room, a room most of the staff avoid like the plague if they can help it. In fact, there was only one being allowed in this particular room.

Tesability Black, the Hotel's Living AI.

Now, there have been good things that have come out of the room, such as the holographic projectors she uses to get from point A to point B as well as the crane used to get Amber the Centaur into position so she could properly start the day right, but the sounds that emerge make people afraid to approach the room.

Behind the metal door that would swing in to reveal the room on the other side, a vaguely-draconic form of metal could be seen in the middle of the room surrounded by various tools often used to work on a dangerous device from a distance. However, there was no one in the distance, there was only a digitized dragon within one of the machines as it was screwing in a new part near the front-right leg.

"Hopefully, I'll be done with this soon," a voice emerged before the holographic projector near the right wall began to glow, revealing Tesability floating above it before flying around to get a better look at her handiwork. "Argh, still too clunky, I won't be able to fly with this thing yet," she gripped before flying above it and sighing. "Gates-dammit," she muttered under her 'breath', a swear often used back in her destroyed world.

She knew it was nowhere near finished, but once she did get it right, she'll actually be able to do more than just play messanger in this place.