What a mess, Archius thought. He rubbed his head, opening his eyes. Ugh... his head hurt. Did he get injured? He tried moving around, finding his limbs somewhat limp. He forced his energy into one hand, dragging at... cloth? Fabrics? He couldn't tell... His head was fucking aching… Ugh…

FUCK... He dragged himself forward, only to come crashing down against the floor. That snapped his eyes open, mind awake. He stared upwards, still wearing last night’s casual clothes. Huh? He looked around, he was in his room, within Chloé's suite.

He felt like vomiting, he couldn't remember anything that happened last night. Was he drunk?! For fucks sake... Archius staggered up, turning on his uplink. No messages, thank fuck for that - well: there was one, confirming that Jas knows that Pi was taken by Yuki...

She didn’t seem too bothered though, which he was thankful for… Stupid fucking child… Yuki always caused trouble.

He walked up towards the mirror in the corner of the room, pressing onto it as a mirrored version of himself appeared on the holo-visor. He looked hungover, that was all he could say. He should... do something? He walked over to his bed, changed clothes and put his shoes on, before approaching the door.

"Hmm?" Archius mused, seeing his voice tracker picking up words behind the door, connected to the hidden ICAPAD on his forearm. Was Chloé having guests around? Well, better safe than sorry, he thought. He pushed his muscles up, moulding his face into a generic smile... It drooped for a moment.

He debated whether it was better to act hungover and be hungover, or act not hungover but be hungover...

He decided to work on it as he left the room. Phasing the door to the side, he left his bedroom. The glass landscape of decor and artefacts around the room shone brightly, as the voices became rather clear to him.

"AH! Look who's finally up!" Chloé shouted. Archius leaned against the wall, yawning as he nodded. For once, he was genuinely showing these people a true side of him, not one showered or shrouded by a facade. Obviously, he wasn’t going to show his more manipulative side,

Another voice called out, Yuki's, "Hey, Archius, were you out drinking last night?"

"Oh, sorry about that," said Noah. Archius fixed his eyes on the dining table in the centre of the room. Everyone was here, Chloé, Yuki, Nathan and Noah, the latter sitting with his chair leaning back. "I should have stopped you from drinking, sorry..."

"No, no, it's fine..." Archius muttered, walking forward towards them. Ugh... he thinks he can remember something.

Archius was out with Noah and Nate, drinking about... Dammit... He knows he didn't blabber anything he shouldn't have. He can control drunk Archius, a lot more than any of the GemRy siblings could control themselves sobre.

Speaking of which... Archius looked over at Yuki, Nate and Noah... Václavos was amongst them, merely giving a wave. WHY THE FUCK WERE THEY HERE?! "Why are y’all here?”

Yuki shot her hand up, as if eager to answer a question that her teacher just asked. Her face was bright and cheery - eyes wide. If Archius didn't know better, he definitely wouldn't have known her to be from Lautrasia.

"We accidentally ordered a bit too much for breakfast so... why not share it with you guys!" she shouted. "Kazu and Lizu are both busy with something... something something Marquis something I forgot, not important!"

Lizu… Maybe Archius should call Liz that, and see how she’d respond. Archius watched as an archaic, premium-made, service drone hovered around, serving tea. Of course, Yuki has that… Of course.

That piece of information caught Noah's attention, who eagerly awaited her to continue. Chloé stood up, grabbing hold of Archius as she helped him towards the table. Ugh... he hated being treated like some old man, but he'll accept it to keep the facade up.

"What about Noah, then?" Archius asked.

Chloé answered, "I invited him, might as well, after all?" She shrugged, seating Archius down beside Noah and her. Archius glanced down at the table, seeing a large array of dim sum. Dozens of plates were placed across the table. Damn… Václavos was chowing down on some buns. Nate was nestled between him and Yuki, nervously eating...

"Yeah, makes sense," said Archius. He turned towards Yuki. "So, let me guess, you purposefully ordered too much because you were planning for some wild shit or some elaborate plan that would never work? Or… both?”"

Yuki paused, as she held chopsticks in the air. A small dabble of sweat poured down her temple. "Uh... nuh uh..." She chuckled.

Oh course she'd say that. But well... There's always someone that would say something, he thought. Archius turned to Nathaniel. "Nate, can you uh... tell me the truth?" Archius asked. Using his shortened name should give the impression that they’re close.

Nathan can be a bit of a pushover sometimes, but that was in Archius’ favour for this purpose alone.

Asking for the truth should ease up his mind, away from betraying Yuki, of course. Nathan merely shuddered, before glancing over at Yuki. Archius could feel a vibration through the table, as Yuki elbowed Nate. He shuddered, his red eyes growing pale.

"Come on... you wouldn't lie to me, right?" Archius asked, hiding a smirk behind a gentle smile. He clicked his fingers playfully, snapping Nate's willpower.

"She... she... wanted to get you to help with... something?" Nate did his best to not reveal anything, but under the assault, he relented. Archius immediately turned back to Yuki.

"Heh... uh," Yuki said. Her eyes dotted around the place, trying to avoid Archius' glare. Chloé gave him a slight nudge as if to tell him to let off it, as she did, Yuki started to whistle a small lullaby tune, quite well known in Theonar space.

Noah, meanwhile, just watched, amused at the display. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he remarked.

"Fine, I wanted you to loosen this guy's lips," said Yuki, pointing with her thumb back at Vitellus. Václavos paused, glancing around as everyone looked at him. He most definitely didn't fit the archetype of a soldier or a bodyguard. Václavos simply took another bite out of a pork bun.

Archius asked, "What do you want to know about him?" Archius smirked, giving a two-sided face to Yuki and Václavos. "I am the best at convincing people, after all."

The answer was most definitely vile, towards Václavos, Archius thought. Vitelius knows Archius, from having to guard him back during the rebellion. But Yuki? Well... all she knows is that her old friend of a friend Archius is good at talking the talk.

"Hmhmm, he keeps asking for dating advice! And he's always eating messily! I want to know some secrets about him, so I can hold him accountable!" she shouted, placing a hand to her chest The florescent dye highlights beneath her hair signalled to a confident red. The two topics she talked about had nothing to do with one another, Archius thought.

He'll play into it. Archius chuckled, before looking towards Noah. He needs more information about this guy. "What do you think?"

"HEY!" Václavos shouted at them, slamming his fist down as he swallowed a large meat bun. "Don't talk as if I'm not here!"

“Don’t damage the furniture,” Chloé grumbled.

"Well... why not?" Noah shrugged. Hmm, carefree? No, Archius thought, he probably didn't want to overplay this hand too much. And if Archius pushes, he might get suspicious. Noah's the son of a media Moghul; if Kaz can tell if people are bullshitting, then Noah might have similar skills...

Best to leave the manipulation to later... for now, he just needs to get close enough, slowly and firmly. "Then, let's begin, shall we?" Archius turned towards Václavos. Yuki was patting Nate on the head.

"Can... we just eat breakfast?" Chloé asked, munching on a dumpling, quite messily, Archius added on. "What? This is probably one of the only times I'd be allowed to messily eat around people."

"Eh... fair enough I suppose." Archius patted her on the shoulder, before looking back at Václavos. "So... you're name is..."

Václavos knew the name of the game, or at least he should have. Archius swears that if this fucker releases some information he's not supposed to say then... well: even Kazuki's protests won't save the fucker from a good beating.

"Václavos. Kazuki sent me here to guard his sister. That's all you'll need to know," he said, crossing his arms after finishing a turnip cake. "Come on... Yuki, can you call him off?"

Oh, Václavos most definitely knew he wouldn't survive. That made Archius grin with glee.

But Yuki just smirked and chuckled to herself, happy that her mischievous plan was coming along. But Archius has his own reasons for playing into her game.

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Václavos is the weakest link of the trio of guards Kaz brought around. "Václavos, you came here with two other people, right? Uh... the tall one and the short one?"

"Cyrus and Nihara, get their names right," Václavos said, pointing with his chopsticks angrily. He then realised that he went directly into Archius' trap... That wasn't even a trap. Somehow, this idiot has walked himself into a trap that Archius didn't even plan to exist! What a jiriki idiot, Archius swore in his native tongue.

"Cyrus and Nihara... ah... they seem so similar... I mean, black hair and all. Sure, the tall guy looks kinda like the standard tough-guy-will-take-no-shits serious guy but uh... the small one, Nihara was it?" Archius asked, pretending not to know. Václavos gave a small nod. "Yeah, her, you think they're like family or something?"

"Huh?"

"Nihara 'n' Cyrus!" Archius shouted. "Who else am I talking about? I mean... they seem close, right?" Archius was prodding Václavos at just the right angles to provoke a response in his favour.

Václavos jerked backwards, before giving a slow nod. He took a spring roll and ate it. "What are you getting at?"

"Oh, me?" Archius leaned backwards, jokingly. "Nothing... but now that you're acting all feisty, I wonder... you like her, don't you!" Archius smiled, pointing with one chopstick at Václavos.

The guard didn't respond.

"SEE! I told you it'd work!" Yuki blabbered out loud to Nathan. Nate, for his part, cowered down into his seat, simply giving a nod. Yuki’s grin was filled with pent-up laughter from how easily Archius had winded Václavos down.

"Yeah... I can see that... can I leave now?" he asked.

Yuki replied, "No! If you think you can escape me, you have a whole 'nother thing coming for you!" She had a wide grin on her face... She was very much a different beast to Kazuki, but as Archius meandered to himself, he fet a small nibbling feeling beneath the table.

He peered down, seeing a beak chew on his trousers.

"Huh?" It was Pi, Kaz's... Yuki's... Jasyme's? The Geminorum-Ryzaku's? No... The Phoenix, that's the most definitive thing he could say then and there. "Oh..."

The bird looked up at him, twirling and making faces as if it were looking at a parental figure. Does the Phoenix know he's close to Jasyme? It’s been a while since he’s been at the garden, but if people suspect… It might lead to some problems.

Yuki peered under the table. "Pi! Get over here, stop annoying Archius," she said, gesturing towards the Phoenix. The bird did a small glance at Yuki, then back at Archius - before going back towards her. Archius peered back above the table. "Sorry, I think Pi's hungry..."

"You... did feed him, right?" Archius asked, somewhat nervously. "That's a Phoenix, you know?"

"Yeah, Phoenix whatever, it's just a bird!" she shouted, feeding the bird a small pork bun. It chirped happily...

Archius facepalmed, heaving a heavy sigh. It was most definitely not a simple bird, he thought. Chloé had to continue where Archius left off. "You do look after the bird, right? Because it can go feral if left hungry..."

"What do you know about this?!" Yuki snapped.

Noah interjected, "She's not wrong... The main reason why Phoenixes died out was because of hunger…” Archius could see that his remark was double-sided… Both to the bird and to Kazuki… Or Yuki?

Archius took a good look at Pi. Even at full strength and size, Pi was not even a tenth of the size of the Phoenixes that man faced back during the colonisation era, back before the Crusades. Just the thought of Pi going on a rampage sent a shiver down Archius' spine, hiding the shiver under the guise of his hangover.

"Well... Pi's different, you wouldn't know that, right Pi?" Yuki asked the bird. It tilted its head towards her, before humming a tune. Yuki fed it another pork bun, and it swayed side to side in a little dance.

Noah gave a heavy sigh, frustrated at Yuki's antics...

"I... I shouldn't have expected much from an influencer..." Chloé said, rolling her eyes. Yuki's face froze, as she gave a half-confused laugh. Chloé had a strained expression on her face, denoting her exhaustion at dealing with Yuki as a guest.

"Chloé, she's just a kid, don't go hard on her, alright?" Noah pleaded with Chloé. "Well... kid as in 17 years old type of kid, but you get the point... right? Right?"

"Y—yeah!" Archius pretended to be on board but made a half-hearted attempt to calm Chloé down. "Let's just finish breakfast, alright? I’m starving!"

Chloé sighed. "Never mind it... I just... remembered some things from the past, sorry." She gave Yuki a nod. “We good?”

Yuki immediately placed both her thumbs up, whilst chewing down on food. It was like she didn’t even hear what Chloé said before… Given it’s her, most likely. “We good!”

"Wait..." Noah started, "Yuki's a... influencer?"

"Yeah!" Yuki sprouted up. "I'm what you'd call a..."

"Idiot?" Archius muttered under his breath. Chloé heard it, and snickered beneath her hand, giving Archius a glance.

"I make stuff and put it on the interweb, how about that?!" Yuki said, sounding as if she was suggesting a solution. Archius just accepted it at face value. "My name commands respect wherever it’s said!”

As if.

"Well... I've heard of you before, head of that Lowguard guild, right?" Chloé asked. She continued eating, before squinting. Then, she shook her head at her own question. "No! Kaz's the head! You're just the figurehead, aren't you?"

"Haha, nuh uh. I'm the best at that game, far better than my brother!" She arrogantly placed her hand on her hips, pushing her chin up. Fucking hell, she must be a pain to live with, Archius thought. And looking at Nathan... yeah, she seems insufferable. Nathan looked as if he wanted to be somewhere else… Probably doing some hobbies or whatever.

"Better an influencer than a war criminal," Noah said. The room fell silent, as even Václavos paused mid-chewing. Alright, it seems Noah CANNOT read the room, Archius thought, chuckling.

Archius wrapped an arm around Noah, as Yuki's face quickly soured. "Shaddup, you! Sorry, Noah's a bit of a joker, a shit one at that." He acted all chummy to Noah, of course, it was a ploy - but Noah must have seen how awkward he made it.

Yuki seemed convinced, merely giving a nod. "Can we... not talk about my brother? Pretty please with a jaraberry on top?" she asked, placing her hands together in prayer.

Chloé nodded, with the two now yapping on about lowguard… Nerd stuff, Archius thought - even though he played it back in the day when he and Kaz didn’t have a private army under their command.

Implicitly, there seems to be an agreement in the making. Noah sighed. "Thanks... I... don't know what I was—"

"—Shh..." Archius whispered to Noah. "Just... enjoy the food alright. She might be Kazuki's brother, but she's different. I mean, look at her... Blonde… blue eyes… You’d call me mad if I said she was one."

Noah nodded. "Sorry..."

"Don't sweat it, we wouldn't be human without our emotions, wouldn't we?" he asked Noah.

“Yeah… I guess since it’s the tenth anniversary I got a bit… weird?” Noah asked himself. Archius paused… Oh yeah… it’s the tenth anniversary of the P-1 Incident.

That also meant it was the tenth anniversary of his planet’s firebombing… a few days ago. Huh… Archius had almost forgotten!

“Hmm, well, just get your thoughts sorted out when the minute of mourning comes, alright?” Archius patted Noah on the back.

Noah squinted. “It’s three though?” he asked, confused, before backtracking. “Wait.. uh, never mind.”

“Three?” Oho! This was news to Archius. He thought it was always one minute.

“Sorry… My parents are media moguls… so, yeah. I kinda get told about some stuff happening in the media industry.” Noah chuckled and scratched the back of his head. Oh… sweet dear… Archius did his best to hide his excitement. This was the perfect target! He was starting to thank Kazuki for assigning him such an interesting fellow.

Now he finally has another person in the media industry, AND THIS ONE WON’T SLATHER HIM WITH DRUNKEN KISSES!

Archius raised his voice. "Anyways! Y'all were talking about Lowguard?"

"Yeah! Between giving away a lot of shit for free… and messing around in videos, I spend some time recording Lowguard videos," Yuki shouted out loud, raising her hands out in front of her. "I need more members in the guild since you know... Kazuki's always busy, so uh... Are you guys any good at the game?"

Chloé shrugged. "So and so?" she said. Archius merely gave a simple shrug. “Don’t play it all that much…” Noah gave a complimentary nod.

"I could join, never really had a guild to play with," he said. Yuki immediately took her phone out, unlocking it as a holographic screen propped up. She let the projector hover over them, providing Noah with an invitation to the guild, quite small compared to other influencer guilds, though most members are vetted through Kazuki, so there was that.

Noah took out his own phone and scanned the information with his own application. And then, just like that, he was in.

"Yus!" Yuki cheered to herself silently. She then turned to Nathan. "See, you’re not the only new guy.”

"Haha... great job," Nathan said, slowly smiling. He didn't seem too nervous, now that the mood's swung to a more jovial and casual mood.

Yuki pressed her circular aug-glasses up her nose bridge, the lens shining bright with anti-imaging detection and information outputs.

“You still need to be vetted by Kazuki,” said Archius.

To that, Nathan’s face went pale, with eyes going in both directions as he started to fall apart. Yuki interjected, “Nuh-uh! He’s never on, so I’ll just make them full members.”

Soon, they finished breakfast, with Yuki and her 'bird' consuming a large swaft of the dishes... Nate, by comparison, barely got anything. That didn’t seem to mind him, to Archius’ observations.

They spent most of the morning shopping around... Archius broke off from the group, as they were shopping. He tapped Václavos on the shoulder, signalling him for a talk. Archius walked around one of the aisles. "Pretend you're helping me choose something, the excuse is... of course: you're a hopeless romantic."

"Not that hopeless!" Václavos grumbled, placing his fingers on his temple and rubbing it. "Did you really have to do that?”

Archius clicked his fingers, ignoring his question/ “I'm not exactly your boss, but you are willing to go the full mile with this, right?"

"What's... a mile?" Václavos furrowed his brow, glancing around the various merchandise present in the shop.

Archius sighed, waving his hands in front of him. "Never mind that, are you willing to do what it takes to protect Yuki?"

"Yeah? Of course... and anyone else that Kaz needs protecting. We're not his Eden Trio for nothing, you imbecile." Václavos lightly smacked Archius across the head. “Let's get back to them..."

"What if Nihara's in danger?" Archius asked. Václavos paused. Archius glanced around... no one was looking, and his face faltered. "Tell me, will you protect the objective, no matter what?"

"Of... course, I will." Václavos looked offended, his face forming into disgust at the mere notion of his failure. Archius will have to take Václavos' word for it. He must, Kazuki nor Cyrus would allow him to do any of his little experiments with someone like Václavos. He wasn't like Quinn, someone, who in the hierarchy, is below him...

Archius mumbled to himself, nodding. "Well then, happy protecting." He turned and walked away.

He had no choice but to accept his answer, even if he wasn’t convinced.