A bold claim. A dubious one too, spoke the silence of each and every one of their gazes.

"Beat Leon again," reiterated The Witch, leading her elbows and head an inch forward. "Okay, I'm interested."

"As if, though," The Hunter threw a hand unimpressed. "Dunno what you got under your sleeve here.. but you'll never beat Leon when he's serious - and trust me, I've never seen him more serious about something in my life."

"It's a crush," rolled the eyes of The Vampire.

"A crush," The Witch reinforced with a smile. "Who would have thought that Leon would develop a soft spot for women stronger than him?"

"Can't deny, that Elf's pretty pretty," muttered The Hunter.

"Very pretty," nodded The Vampire in agreement.

"Perhaps Eshwlyn in the game would have been even more an unforgettable character had there been an option to dress her like that," pondered The Wizard, folding the sleeves of magnificent robes across one another.

Meanwhile, the Witch and her pointed hat politely gave a little shake. "Mmm, I disagree. I believe her charm comes entirely from her attitude. It doesn't matter what she's dressed like."

"Oh," started another once more. "But you see right.."

Then for a moment that lasted longer than it should, I found that my very presence had suddenly become nothing more than a useless prop in a backdrop of a back and forth between the four.

Don't know how, but somehow the topic kept getting derailed from one train of thought to the next. A simple discussion of conventional attractiveness had slowly morphed into a petty disagreement about who was the most beautiful character in Asteria, then that shifted into a heated debate on who's the best party member to have overall in your party.

That's when it clicked, and the synapses in my brain went, 'Hey, wait a minute!' cause right only then did I finally realize that these four over here were actually dressed as the original four party members Leonardo receives after the prologue.

Was it a cool detail? Yeah, I guess. Was it nice that they were heavily invested in their characters? Sure, I suppose so. Should it take precedent over actually assisting convention-goers such as myself? I think that's where I'd beg to differ.

Took so much time and effort on my part to get them back to the main topic at hand - and even then, right, it wasn't even me that managed to get them to do that. Yep, no matter how many times I tapped on the desk or tried to get a word in edgewise, it wasn't any use.

Then, from behind, with a single word that boomed, a single word that fell a quiet almost instant, he came.

"Hey..."

It was the dullest, most monotone 'hey,' I've ever had the displeasure of hearing.. and then just to make matters worse, high above me suddenly loomed a familiar shadow of a man.

Very dark, very big, and very, very familiar.

Then he placed his hands onto the table, just as I did.. but unlike me, the table did not sound an agonizing creak at the weight of it, nor did it vibrate the way that it did when I rapped my knuckles against the surface.

But I guess that's just the difference between the big and the small.. and it pretty much goes without saying that Nick was very, very big.

Here he was again, and no, I'm not even fazed at this point. It's a fact of life now, a fundamental rule of the universe, a cornerstone to the fabric of reality that can never be contended with.

Where there is a will, there is a Nick.

"I want to enlist as well," He said, locking his gaze briefly with my own.

All four judges peered silently into the eyes of the blank-faced giant, the same way they did with me when I made my proclamation.. only without the amusement, and more with the bemusement.

"Umm, yes, Nick.." began the Witch, clearing her throat to a tone sharper and tauter. "I had a feeling you'd want to.. considering, well.. but in any case, the rules are clear - the staff isn't allowed to participate in any of the events. You know this. You're the helper, not the helpee."historical

Nick stood his grounds undeterred, speaking again in that same casual indifferent tone of his. "You say that.. then tell me, how can you let Amanda herself partake in this event? If I remember correctly Sarah was the grand prize originally. How come she got to bend the rules last-minute? You even add on a second person. I'm sure that's also not allowed, right?"

It was the Vampire's turn to speak up now, thinning his lips till his fangs showed. "Well, you see.. Amanda's contributed a lot. She's helped us out in so many ways. We figured we all owe her at least this much for everything she's done, right?"

There were small nods and quiet murmurs of agreements all around.

"And besides, Nick, my good man," The Wizard added on, his expression soft and sympathetic. "I'm sure you already know that Amanda didn't bend the rules and outright disregard them, putting herself up there on a pedestal just for you to go ahead and take her. You know pretty well yourself enough already why she's doing this."

"Yes.." His glance strayed slightly left again, and my face shimmered in the bitterness of his eyes. "I'm aware."

"Then, just go beat it already, dude," spoke The Hunter, leaning into his seat quite lax. "Amanda's already spoken for. Anytime now that boyfriend of hers is gonna show up, and you're hogging the line. Actually, both of you are. Shoo."

I took my chance. Before anybody could intrude, I spoke, "You tell me where I can enlist and I'll be out of your hair gladly."

"Ah, right, I completely forgot you wanted to humiliate yourself further by fighting Leon, my bad," He straightened himself upright, and after a bit of shuffling, pulled out two pieces of papers from under the desk. "Right so, left paper means you're going for Princess Riona over there, and for the right, you'll be in the Elf's camp. Write your name on either one, buzz off, and wait and see if you get chosen to participate. If not, tough luck.. there's only so many spots and too many people. Seriously, everybody wants a piece of the prize this year.. well, not like I can blame them."

What he said sounded like total hyperbole, but just a second's peek at either paper made it clear that sometimes truth was stranger than fiction. There were names strewn across every single inch to the point where I'd have a tough time finding a space for my name even on the microscopic level.

Okay, now that was hyperbole.. but you get the idea. Amanda's side was practically just a long laundry list of her admirers hoping for this once chance, and if the small little number 4 inscribed directly at the end of the page was anything to go by, this was far from everyone.

Ash's one was just as brimming with names, if not even more so. Top to bottom, it'd take at least a good while to sort them all out. It was no wonder the dance session took as long as it did with lists like these.

I scanned the list of names, and even amidst the chaos of countless different handwritings - Leon somehow managed to stick out like a sore thumb. It was the only name there inscribed in a way that looked too perfect to be actually written by human hands.

"You best hurry and make a decision," said the Wizard, a typical knowing smile on his face as he offered up a pen between his fingers. "There's only two of them, after all. Shouldn't be that hard for you."

Yeah, that's what I thought first. But then this icky stuff called emotions had to make it more than just an easy choice. It's whatever though, as Amanda said, I can't always just sit on that fence and hope things go my way.

Sometimes I have to plant my feet firmly on one side or the other.

I jumped off that fence, and I took hold of the pen.. and slowly, gradually I let my fingers drift to that one side I landed on.

And then, within that same second, I felt the pen slip from my grasp - and saw the same giant shadow cast over me once more.

The pen looked like a tiny toothpick when held in his fingers, and the sheet of paper like a napkin the way he had one hand pressing down on it as he carefully yet hastily scribbled away.

There was outrage, silent at first.. surprise in the eyes of every one of the judges, until finally, the brashest of them spoke.

"Oi, Nick!" He called out, trying to pry away the paper from the giant. "I said to beat it! What are you even - ?!"

"Last month on the fifteenth, Wednesday morning," Nick looked up, his gaze as cold and aloof as ever. "I helped you push your broken down car six miles to the nearest gas station while you sat steering at the front seat."

The Vampire cocked his head. "Okay, and what does that have to do with - ?"

"Last week, I helped move your furniture to your new apartment on the top floor as you didn't want to hire any movers. I walked up that stairwell.. one piece of furniture at a time."

Nick then snapped his gaze to The Wizard. "You had me be your bodyguard for a month straight when you thought you were being stalked."

"Nick!" The Witch slammed her hand down, a full-on scowl on her face for the first time ever. "Enough of this nonsense! Just what do you think you're doing? You're ruining this - !"

"Big Sis," Nick said, blinking only once at her. "Please, shut up."

Big Sis? They're related? These two? They couldn't be further apart from one another even if they're halfway across the globe.

"I've done my fair share of favors too," He continued, gazing into each and every one of their dumbfounded expressions. "And so I'm going to cash them all in, right here, right now. Let me compete. You owe me all at least this much."

The pen toppled over from his fingers, the paper he slid over to their end of the table, and his name - written over all of the others in big, bold, blue letters.

"Let me have Amanda."