Glenn gulped, his eyes fixed on the ex-wine bottle, observing the dark liquid it contained like a divine elixir. He glanced at the two Black Heirs watching him worriedly, before pouring himself a drink. Cream-colored moss rose, earning a curious stare from Liara, and a wary one from Sahro.
"...I mean, it is kind of a divine elixir. The culmination of Earth's technology, aimed for the single goal of creating a drink so addictive your body will always crave more..." Nelg swallowed down his jealousy, unable to taste the Coke with his lips. He'd have to make do with Glenn's memories, but secretly, he swore he'd taste the refreshing soda with a luscious, red, human tongue.
'Huh, a divine drink? More like a demonical one!' Diamanes sneered, Nelg immediately snapping back at the mockery.
"Shut up! Don't say that about the holy Coca-Cola!"
In front of the fuming sword, the entity had no choice but to defend itself.
'The hell? This thing is unhealthy, prone to make people fatter, and...you even said it yourself, it's so addictive it can probably be considered a drug!' Diamanes countered, adding, '...Junky!'
Glenn grimaced and mentally muted both of the voices, giving them a private corner to fight and give him peace of mind. He steeled himself and moistened his lips, peering down at his glass. The cream-colored moss had decreased substantially, but a thin layer was still left over it.
'...It probably isn't going to taste the same, is it?' He tried to lower his expectations, without much success. It was the last drink he expected to find in this wretched world, yet...
Yet here it was. Or a version of it, at least. A magical one, to add to injury. The young man could only scoff at the thought, trying to get past the absurdity of it all. And with that, he also seriously contemplated the idea of beginning a collection of Fallen Pieces. If they were all so magical, then maybe... The corner of his lips curved upward when he remembered the revolver in Giselle's possession.
Surely, once he'd have saved her grandson, he'd be able to ask her for it? He shook his head and concentrated back on the drink.
"Well, here I go—" Glenn brought the glass to his lips when Sahro stopped him with a firm hand, killing his excitement.
"This isn't a good idea. Why are you so convinced it isn't poison?" The Black Heir eyed the dark drink with a gradually increasing wariness. He creased his nose, picked up the now-Coca-Cola bottle, and poured a drop on his finger. Liara's eyes widened and she jumped to her feet, worried for him. The bead of coke fell on Sahro's finger, sliding down and dropping on the ground with an insignificant sound.
Glenn, Sahro, and Liara traded a silent glance, Glenn stealthily raising the glass to his lips and hurriedly turning away to take a sip. Sahro, taken by surprise, couldn't stop him, and without anything else to do, he slapped the young man's back, making him spit his mouth out. Glenn's eyes widened and he used Gravity Manipulation, the image of zero-gravity in space stations as an example for his saving attempt. Instead of falling on the ground, the drops he spat went and moved through the air slowly at a high speed.
'...Gravity Manipulation isn't enough to describe this spell at this point...I'll think of another one,' Diamanes quietly commented, completely ignored by his host.
They would have probably splashed against a wall if the room had been normal-sized. Thankfully, the Platinum Suite was all but normal-sized. Glenn looked at them with confusion and gulped at the same time, the leftover coke still going down his throat. He gasped and felt his eyes become watery, losing his concentration and letting the leftover drink crash down.
"Fucking dumbass—"Sahro's anger died down when he saw the tears trailing down his friend's cheeks, instantly replaced with worry. He quickly turned toward Liara.
"Shit! Do you have healing magic?" The Black Heir slapped his forehead angrily and rushed for the door, "...No, of course not you don't! Glenn, hold on, I'll get a priest—!" He froze when he saw Glenn raise his open palm in a calming gesture. The young man wiped his eyes and chuckled.
"Wow—I am very, very touched by your care, Sahro, but I like women, alright?"
Sahro blinked emotionlessly a few times until his confusion slowly turned to anger, his face reddening with wrath.
"You FUCKER! I'm going to RIP YOU APART—!" Sahro's voice died down when he saw Glenn coughing slightly... until the smirk on his friend's face lit that anger up again.
"STOP THAT!!!!" Sahro yelled, his eyes bloodshot and his thunder arm crackling with electricity. Glenn laughed, before shaking his head.
"Alright, alright, let's calm down here. First, it's not poison. Secondly, poison can't do much to me. Third, sit back down, Sahro," He pointed at the sofa in front of him, all under Liara's watchful, almost amused gaze. Sahro drew a deep breath through clenched teeth, a few veins popping up on his forehead until he sighed and sat back down, his face returning to its usual tint. Liara gently placed her chin in her hand, enjoying the show as her emotionless mask slowly but surely cracked away.
"Now, this—" He pointed at the bottle of Coca-Cola, "—This is something you've never tasted in your whole life."
Sahro looked at the bottle dubiously, his fingers rapping against the sofa's armrest.
"I don't share your...poison immunity. I'm not dumb enough to risk myself drinking this thing..." The Black Heir grumbled, glaring at his friend and showing his dislike as best he could. Glenn shrugged it off and poured himself another drink of the delicious soda, before throwing a wary stare toward Sahro.
"Please don't make me waste this one, alright?" Glenn pleaded, keeping his fingers tightly wrapped around the glass "just in case". Sahro waved dismissively, giving up.
"If you die, you die. Whatever."
Glenn chuckled and drank the whole glass in one shot. He sighed deeply, his eyes tearing up slightly as the carbonation did its work. He wasn't used to it anymore. This world's beer was barely carbonated, if at all.
But on Onnea it felt good.
"Phew..." He withheld a burp, before picking Sahro's glass up and filling it up with coke. The Black Heir grimaced, watching the glass filling up, and reluctantly picked it up.
"Just—Just think of it like beer!" Glenn tried to convince him, "...You were wary then, you're wary now, why don't you just trust me?!?"
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Sahro smacked his lips and threw him a barely amused stare.
"...You're sure you want to go down that road?"
Glenn winced, before waving his hand dismissively and pointing back at the drink.
"Listen, just take a sip. It won't kill you, alright? Even if it will, you won't regret it!"
Sahro was about to reply when a frail hand suddenly shot out and stole the glass away. Glenn and Sahro barely had the time to turn their head to see Liara emptying the whole glass with blind trust. Sahro stood up silently, his lips pressed together. Glenn smiled, suddenly finding Liara to be more and more likable.
"...So when are you proposing to her?" Nelg sneakily asked, making his host flinch. He gritted his teeth and chose to not reply, refusing to entertain the pestering sword.
Liara coughed lightly, her eyes watering slightly. Sahro was about to rush to her side but Glenn held him back, smiling. The lady wiped the foam off her mouth, and suddenly looked up, her eyes shining brightly. She held her glass toward Glenn inquisitively, who picked it up with a chuckle.
"Sure, here you go..." He poured another glass, all under Sahro's watchful gaze. He handed it to Liara, who, instead of emptying it in one shot, chose to sip a little of it. She held her tongue out, seemingly curious about the heavy carbonation of the drink. Glenn looked at Sarho and pointed at Liara proudly.
"See? That's bravery, that's courage, that's strength! You should take a leaf out of her book!"
A vein popped up on Sahro's forehead, and with gritted teeth he took the Coke bottle away from Glenn's hand, pouring himself a drink in a leftover glass and emptying it up in one shot. He coughed and winced, looking at the glass with disgust. He coughed slightly before touching his tongue, unimpressed.
"Ugh, so...sweet..." Sahro shook his head and sat back on the sofa.
"...It's not my thing... ugh..."
Glenn pressed his lips together, realizing he had failed to take into account the Black Heir's palate's habitude. Industrial sugar would probably not suit many people in this kind of medieval era.
'At least she loves it!' Diamanes remarked, laughing widely. Glenn shrugged with a smile, before looking at the mini-fridge in wonder.
"...Anyway, a fridge that transforms wine into coke...It sure makes me wonder about what the rest of these Fallen Pieces can do."
He couldn't dive deeper into this thought as the door to his suite opened suddenly, Milena walking in proudly, Javier trailing behind her with...a tired look?
Javier was...tired?
Glenn rubbed his eyes as he watched the Pale Son plop down on a sofa silently.
"Holy shit...what the hell did he go through?" Nelg questioned, in awe. Glenn shook his head slightly, speechless. Javier leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes, all hints of his exhaustion disappearing with him closing his eyes. This was also the first time he saw Javier take a nap, or even sleep.
Truly a day of surprises.
"Hey, guys! We found out a lot of stuff with Javier, you'll be shocked!" Milena exclaimed as she bounced around them with excitement. Glenn blinked, still in shock from seeing Javier so...human, before uttering under his breath:
"...How old are you already, Milena?"
"Twenty-one!" She answered briskly, before choosing a sofa and settling comfortably on it. She grinned with all her teeth, the scent of mint coming off her stronger than ever. Only then she remarked Liara, who was silently sipping on her coke with wide, watery eyes. She blinked, before throwing an accusing glare at Glenn and Sahro.
"What—what did you do this poor girl?!" She blurted out as she rushed to Liara's side. The lady watched her confusedly, her lips still pressed against the side of her glass. Milena crouched next to her, worried.
"Hey, are you alright? What did they do to make you cry? Not, let me guess: Glenn mocked you? Maybe Sahro said something mean?" She continued without giving Liara the chance to reply, her cheeks heating up and her eyes lighting up with a hint of Mana.
"Don't worry, I'll make them pay!" She turned on her feet and suddenly grasped at the air, pulling on it. Glenn, who was happily watching with a grin, suddenly found himself falling toward the ceiling, or at least felt like he was falling. It was much more different than when he manipulated Gravity to pull Sahro and Liara up back in that cavern, in that his whole balance was suddenly messed up.
"—The ffffffoooohhh" Glenn's voice came back to him distorted and the mini-fridge appeared in his vision, approaching dangerously. The young man tried to use Gravity Manipulation to pull himself backward but only succeeded in accelerating his fall. His forehead bounced off the fridge with a loud metal noise, and he stumbled back on the sofa, refusing to move anymore as he held his forehead.
'Nasty, nasty illusion magic. Well, and it's one I can't even eat...Unless she could cast it directly on your left hand? It remains to be tested...' Diamanes pondered, uncaring of his host's struggles. Glenn closed his eyes before the illusion made him puke, waiting patiently as he tried to find a solution out of the trap. He tried to push his hand forward, but felt his whole body being pulled with it, and hurriedly retracted it.
'...How am I supposed to get out of here? Is illusion magic the hidden meta?' He couldn't help but question, as he listened to the distorted voices echoing from his surroundings. Each of his senses was muddled, or interfered with, in a kind of similar way to when there was noise on a radio line.
Interference. That was the keyword here. Glenn felt like he was going somewhere here.
'Should I just wait it out? How am I supposed to get rid of this interference? Diamanes?' Glenn asked, only to be met with despite.
'Come on, take the opportunity to learn, instead of asking for help like a pushover,' Diamanes grumbled, killing his host's hopes for an easy solution. Well, he could wait it out, but he didn't like the idea of just giving up without even trying.
Glenn pressed his lips together felt his world shake, and hurriedly stopped even that small motion.
"Shiiittttttt" His voice rang out in an ethereal tone, echoing all around. Glenn had never dabbled too much in drugs, but he imagined acid being something similar.
Maybe a little easier on the senses? He couldn't know.
'...I'll give up speaking aloud, or it'll just make my brain go even limper. I can't even blink without my whole body being affected. Wait—' Glenn froze and he almost instinctively grabbed at his head, before restraining himself in fear of falling into whatever illusional void Milena could have conjured.
'...Illusion magic is interference, interference in my senses...Shit, and all of my senses too! What the fuck does her spell interferes with? My brain? Wait, am I in danger of going brain-dead?' Glenn's heart thumped loudly, like the sound of a clock out of sync. If the interference was on his brain, perhaps the best solution was to block off the interference. How? Wrap his head in Mana?
And make it explode? Or gravitate?
How the hell was he supposed to shape Astral Sorcery into...mind protection magic?
"Surprise her!" Nelg suddenly exclaimed with an enlightened voice. Glenn wanted to raise an eyebrow but couldn't, in fear of the consequences.
'How?' He asked, curious but a little worried about his sword's suggestion.
"I'm not influenced by the mind magic, or illusion magic, or whatever hex you're under, and what I can tell right now is that Liara is struggling to keep Milena away from you and Sahro. If you surprise her with a shocking move, perhaps she'll drop the magic!" Nelg explained with an excited and kind of wicked tone.
'HOW, Nelg? I asked how?' Glenn blurted out, annoyed. Nelg chuckled and shrugged his armored shoulders.
"The only thing that isn't affected by the illusion magic is your soul. And what is linked to your soul?"
Glenn wanted to groan in understanding, and sigh distastefully, but couldn't allow such a thing. He already knew the solution Nelg was proposing, but...
But he didn't want to use it, simply?
"I mean, if you want to wait it out, you're free to do so..." Nelg commented innocently.
'...I hate you.' Glenn closed his eyes, the act almost sending him down a spiral of purple and blue, and took his Soulbound suit back into his soul. The illusion magic suddenly trembled before dissipating wholly, letting Glenn see Milena almost jumping at him, her furious sight transforming to pure horror. With the return of his capacities, Glenn first used Gravity Manipulation and pulled Milena to the ceiling, and secondly put his suit back on.
The whole thing barely took a second.
'...And so begins the mythical legend of the Lightspeed Stripper.' Diamanes announced with a grave tone. Glenn sighed, both tiredly in front of the entity's antics and relief when he saw that Liara had her back turned to him, meaning she (probably) didn't see anything.
Hopefully, she didn't.
"...Not that you shouldn't be proud of yourself, but I mean, I'm a little shy too..."
'Well, fuck you, and fuck you too Diamanes.'
'Hahaha!'