— Skydia, Ranth 6, 8054 —

Golden rays of sunset scattered across the buildings and streets of Compound Tresnon, providing shining halos of light around the crowds and the various stalls and decorations they crowded around. An overall jovial atmosphere had overtaken Tresnon, with citizens the Compound over laughing and conversing with each other as they all finished setting up for the following day’s holiday.

The campus of Wrikax Chaos University was little different; in the final hours of the day, many students had co-opted the campus courtyard and practice fields to set up their own stalls and platforms for Creators’ Day. Activity was winding down as everyone slowly began filtering into the dorms for rest, but a festive air persisted, despite the otherwise oppressive heat that assaulted the Compound.

Amongst all of the preparations, Pierce casually strolled through the premises, a wet rag draped over his shoulders and running clothes adorning his body. After finishing a late-afternoon run along the relatively cool lakeside, he was now returning to his dorm room on the campus — and as he did, he couldn’t help but look around at the stalls, tents, and canopies that had been erected all over, and the fanciful colors that adorned them. Whereas Compound Tresnon was typically a bland beige all over, the lively colors of the decorations made the small city seem like an entirely different location.

The Nimalians really seem to like Creators’ Day, huh… Pierce thought to himself as he approached the entrance to the dorms, only to stop for a moment to look over the nearby stalls once more. All this stuff was all over the city, too. Just how many people are ‘creating’ stuff, huh…?

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and finally stepped into the dormitory. Cool air rushed over him, prompting an involuntary shiver — followed by a quiet sigh of relief. Running in the heat is the worst, but it isn’t like I’ll have much time after sunset. Besides, building endurance for this kind of thing will probably be useful down the line—

“What? No way! C’mon, you can’t be serious!!”

Just as Pierce was about to ascend the steps to the second floor, a shout from a familiar voice drew his attention to one of the first-floor rooms — particularly, to Austin’s room. The door was wide open, and after hearing Austin’s shout, Pierce could tell that there were a handful of others in the room, as well. …Just what the hell is the dweeb up to, now? Pierce mused. This is just that RPG crap, isn’t it? I still don’t see what the appeal is. And they’re doing this for Creators’ Day, huh? How the hell is that supposed to work? And how’d he manage to rope in Conrad…?

A couple seconds passed as Pierce uneasily eyed the open door. He then glanced down at his watch. …I have time for a quick diversion… With that, he adjusted the rag on his shoulders and sauntered over to Austin’s room.

“…But that’s the entire point! It’s why I wanted to run this one-shot!”

“Austin…” Spike muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “You can’t be pittin’ newbies against an adult dragon, not in a one-shot…”

“’Dragon’ is in the name of the fucking game!” Austin refuted. “How am I supposed to not use one?”

“…So this is what you’re up to, huh?” Pierce remarked, drawing the attention of Austin and Spike — as well as both Conrad and Kirstin, who sat on the far side of the room from the door.

“Oh, hey, Pierce,” Conrad casually greeted.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Austin exclaimed.

“I just heard some shouting, so I thought I’d see what was wrong,” Pierce replied. “…Sounds like it was nothing, though, huh?”

“It’s not nothing, it’s a dragon!” Austin insisted. “They’re iconic! And cool! And there will be a dragon fight, damn it!”

“And also way too much for a new player to handle,” Spike countered. “I thought we went over this a few days ago. You even took the fight out, right after. So why’re you puttin’ it back in?”

“It’s not exactly the same fight, I made it weaker, see?” Austin turned his laptop around and practically shoved it into Spike’s face. “I’m using the adult mini, but the stats of a younger dragon. It’ll be fine!”

“Why do you even care so much?” Pierce questioned incredulously. “It’s just a fictional thing.”

“It’s a cool fictional thing,” Austin replied. “Like, c’mon! Dragons are big and powerful, and they can fly, and look cool, and kill shit with their breath!”

“Sounds like they should learn to brush their teeth,” Conrad remarked.

“I-I, um… k-kind of agree… w-with Austin,” Kirstin meekly added.

“See? She gets it!” Austin exclaimed. “They’re the coolest mythical creature ever!”

“I prefer Cerberus, personally,” Spike said. “But you don’t see me goin’ around tryin’ to shove Cerberus into everyone’s faces, now, do you?”

“What fuckin’ nerds,” Pierce remarked. “At least you picked a dog.”

“Cats are better,” Conrad declared.

“’Nerd’ comment aside, I gotta go with Pierce,” Spike said. “Dogs are man’s best friend for a reason. Can’t go wrong with ‘em.”

“They’re only man’s best friend because we eugenics’d ‘em into being dumb,” Austin countered. “Cats are way better.”

“Christ, eugenics? What the hell, Austin?”

“That’s literally what breeding is!”

“From zero to a hundred in an instant, huh,” Conrad remarked. “But Austin’s right. I wish I was a cat, you know. Then I could just sleep away the whole day…”

“That’s not why cats are cool,” Austin refuted. “They’re better because they’re independent! They don’t need you to dote on them, or take them outside for a shit. And they’re way less likely to bowl you over when they’re excited, too!”

“Y-yeah…” Kirstin added with a meek nod. “A-and they’re, um, a-a lot quieter than, uh, dogs.”

“C’mon, a dog’s energy is their best part!” Spike argued. “They’re always down to play. You don’t get that with cats.”

“You can even take a dog with you on a run,” Pierce pointed out. “Can’t do that with a cat. Hell, you could even train a dog to watch your back in a fight, or to protect you. But a cat? Ha! Not happening.”

“…Speaking of fights!” Austin exclaimed incredulously, “we were just about to do one! How the hell did we start arguing about dogs and cats?!”

“Blame Conrad for that,” Pierce retorted.

“You’re the one who said you liked dogs first,” Conrad replied. “…Hey, wait. Austin, isn’t there a dog race, or something? Pierce, you could play that.”

“A… what?” Pierce questioned with a grimace.

“A humanoid race of dog people,” Austin corrected, only to frown as he held a hand to his chin in thought. “…I think there is, actually, but I’ve never looked at it, much…”

“Wait, are you telling me to play as an anthropomorphic dog? Bleh.” Pierce scoffed. “No thanks. I’m not a furry.”

“Hey man, furries didn’t do anything to you,” Conrad replied.

“Furries can do whatever the hell they want for all I care, I’m just not one of them. I’m not playing a dog person.”

“Playing a dog person doesn’t make you a furry,” Austin countered.

“That aside… there is a class that gives you a beast companion,” Spike pointed out. “You could play someone who fights together with their dog, or a wolf.”

Pierce glanced over at Spike in surprise. “…What? Really?”

“Oh yeah, that ranger thing,” Conrad replied. “Yeah, I saw that. Seemed like too much effort in my opinion, but it’s there.”

“They made a whole class around fighting together with a dog?” Pierce questioned incredulously.

“Well, not specifically a dog,” Austin corrected. “A dog or a wolf is just two of the options. You could also have, like, a big cat, or a bear, or a wolverine, or a big snake… stuff like that.”

“What about a bird of prey? Like a falcon?”

“Uh… not really. I don’t think you can pick flying animals.”

“I-I, um… c-can summon a bird,” Kirstin said.

“Yeah, but those familiars are too squishy to actually fight with,” Austin said. “If you wanted to play as a, I dunno, a falconeer, or something… I don’t know if that’s actually possible. Not without homebrew, anyways.”

“Finally getting interested in the game, then?” Conrad questioned as he passed Pierce an amused smirk.

“…No, of course not,” Pierce insisted. “Besides, you can’t even be a falconeer in this game, huh? Some fantasy.”

“How many people even wanna be falconeers?” Austin responded incredulously.

“Nah, I get the appeal,” Spike remarked. “Ain’t somethin’ I ever thought of before, but it’s a pretty neat idea. Huh… do you like falcons, or somethin’, Pierce?”

“Peregrine falcons are the fastest animal on Earth,” Pierce declared. “Of course I’d like them!”

“I should’ve known…” Austin groaned.

“I still think you should give the game a shot, Pierce,” Conrad said. “There’s a lot of numbers and math, which is annoying. But the combat is fun enough.”

“I-it’s, um… s-surprisingly… fun,” Kirstin added.

“Surprisingly?!” Austin echoed incredulously.

“Hmph…” Pierce’s gaze shifted to a whiteboard that was laying on the floor  in the middle of the group. A grid had been drawn, with what appeared to be several model rocks strewn about, accompanied by a handful of small models of humanoid creatures. …A tactical game, huh…? he mused to himself, and then glanced toward Austin out the corner of his eye. Eventually, he shook his head. “…I’ll take your word for it,” Pierce replied. “I have other shit to do.”

Conrad shrugged. “Alright, man. Your loss.”

“I don’t think anyone’s losing from this decision,” Austin countered.

“Sure thing, dweeb,” Pierce retorted, and then turned away from the door. “I’ll leave you guys to your little game. I’ve got a date to get to.”

“And we’ve got planning to get to!”

“Plannin’ that really shoulda been set in stone by now,” Spike insisted. “Creators’ Day is tomorrow! Are you actually gonna be ready?”

“Of… of course I am!” Austin insisted, though a hint of unease hid in his tone. “We just… need to refine a few things, that’s all!”

“You mean like this fuckin’ dragon you keep insistin’ on usin’?”

“Look, we’re not gettin’ rid of the dragon! It stays…!”

Pierce shook his head in amusement as he walked away from the open room, still listening in on the arguments that drifted out the door. The sounds of their conversation soon disappeared as Pierce climbed the stairs to the second floor, finally making his way to his room. With a deep exhale of relief, he threw his towel over a towel rack in the back of his room — at which point he suddenly shifted into superspeed, rapidly throwing his clothes and watch off, grabbing a clean towel, and zipping out of his room into the one washroom in the hallway. One twist of the shower’s nob got the water running, and with his superhuman speed, Pierce thoroughly washed and dried himself off in a matter of seconds, returning to his room in less than half a minute.

It sure is nice to be able to get showers out of the way so quickly, he mused, and then picked his watch up to replace it on his wrist. …I still have a few minutes, it looks like. Good. He then turned to his closet, yanked out a couple of clean clothing articles, and rapidly dressed himself. Within seconds, he was back to his signature look — clean jeans, a blue v-neck t-shirt, and a fitted black unbuttoned long-sleeved overshirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, so as to emphasize his toned forearms. He took a quick second to look himself over in the mirror; with a satisfied smirk, he then moved to throw open the door to his room and stride into the hallway, where he turned toward the stairs and began climbing to the roof. Ever since getting his superspeed — and thus, superhuman durability — Pierce had developed a certain thrill for standing and jumping from tall spaces. The fall couldn’t hurt him, after all, so he could effectively base jump from any building without needing any special equipment or preparation.

A moment later, Pierce emerged on the roof of WCU’s dormitory. Dusk had overtaken the Compound, and with it, cooling temperatures brought on by a cool breeze from Mirage Lake. He stopped for a second to breathe deeply, taking in the breeze and the cooler air — and in so doing, he realized that he could hear singing nearby. …Who’s voice is that? he thought to himself as he turned to look in the direction of the singing. She has a hella nice voice, but — am I hearing this right? This is in English. …Wait, I know this voice…!

After stepping around some junk that had been left on the roof, Pierce finally laid eyes on the source of the singing: Sky, standing on the far side of the roof. Energetic music — though quiet, as if the volume had been turned down — accompanied her voice, while Phoenix, Twy, and Kestrel stood nearby, observing. From where they all stood, only Sky was facing Pierce, but she seemed to be too distracted with singing to notice him. …So this is what they’ve been working on, Pierce observed, his gaze lingering on Sky. …Alright, I have to admit, she’s pretty good. Might almost say that she’s better at singing than Kestrel is at making music, and Kestrel’s no slouch. And is that…? He shifted his attention to the side, where a cheap, temporary wall of sorts had been erected. And attached to the wall was a large mural, showing off the visage of Yosemite valley in charming watercolor. …That… must be Twy’s work. Huh. I didn’t expect the dweeb’s friends to be so talented…

Pierce’s idle thoughts soon came to an end as the music and Sky’s singing stopped.

“…Well?” Sky prompted after a second, placing her hands on her hips as she looked at each of Twy, Phoenix, and Kestrel. “How was that?”

“That was nice!” Phoenix remarked. “You have a hella beautiful singing voice, Sky!”

“And you’d never know just from hearing her talk,” Twy playfully jabbed.

“Hey!” Sky responded indignantly.

“…It was good,” Kestrel commented.

“Yeah! All that’s left is a quick dress rehearsal, and then I’d say we’re ready for the big day!” Phoenix declared.

“…It really has all come together…” Twy commented, her gaze drifting over to the mural, and then to a bag off to the side. “…I wasn’t sure that we’d make it, honestly.”

“For a couple reasons,” Sky replied while throwing an annoyed glance toward Phoenix.

“Don’t think you aren’t to blame for part of this,” Phoenix retorted. “Who was it who completely changed the subject of the performance, a mere two weeks before Creators’ Day? And without consulting any of us?”

“Hey, you’re the one who said I should get the opinion of a Japanese person! So I did!”

“Alright, alright, let’s not get into an argument. Not here, not now,” Twy insisted.

“…Oh, right. Ha ha,” Sky laughed sheepishly. “Sorry!”

“…More practice?” Kestrel suggested.

Phoenix nodded. “I think that might be prudent. Sky, you should practice once or twice while wearing your outfit.”

“And I should practice setting up and taking down the mural…” Twy mused. “We’ll only have a minute or two to setup, tomorrow, after all.”

“We could help you with that,” Phoenix replied.

“No, no…” Twy responded, turning towards the mural as two leathery bags seemed to lift into the air. With a quick gesture from Twy, the bags levitated over to the mural and deformed like mittens to dexterously grab the painting and begin taking it down. “I can handle it. Besides, this is good practice with my powers.”

“Leave it to you to find a way to practice your powers, even on Creators’ Day!” Sky exclaimed. “You’ll be the best of us in no time, sis!”

“That does seem like a pretty convenient use of your power…” Phoenix mused as she watched Twy continue to manipulate the leather bags from afar. “Filling those bags with water and then using them like a second set of hands… I sure wish I could do something like that.”

“There are a lot of useful Chaostechnic abilities,” Twy replied. “I’m sure there’s something you can do that isn’t combat-related…”

“Believe me, I’ve looked,” Phoenix responded with an exasperated sigh. “…That said, Twy, you really need to come up with a better name for those things.”

“What? Why?”

“You called them ‘bladders’!” Sky remarked.

“That’s what they are!” Twy insisted.

“Doesn’t mean you have to call them that. I think you should name all your techniques, anyways! It’s way cooler when you do that!”

“They only do that in anime…”

“I’m kind of with Twy, here,” Phoenix remarked. “Slapping silly names on every even slightly useful ability you have is pretty cringe.”

“Cringe?!” Sky echoed incredulously. “Then what do you call your Chaos callouts, huh?!”

“Not my fault I have to verbally invoke things,” Phoenix retorted with a shrug, and then began to turn away from the others. “Well, you’re free to do what you want, I guess. Anyways, I gotta hit the bathroom real quick. When I get back, we can— wait, Pierce?!”

Pierce smirked as Phoenix spotted him, a scowl quickly crossing her face. “Finally noticed me, huh?” he called out to her.

“What the?!” Sky exclaimed in surprise, her attention snapping to Pierce. “What are you doing here? How long have you been there?!”

“Since the last part of your song,” Pierce replied.

“What—?” In the darkening dusk, it was difficult to make out Sky’s face exactly, but Piece could still tell that she had flushed red with embarrassment. “Y-you’re not supposed to listen in on rehearsals!”

“Now you know how I feel when you peek at my drawings before they’re done,” Twy retorted.

“It’s not like I intended to eavesdrop, anyways,” Pierce asserted. “I’m not Conrad, you know. It’s just a coincidence that I’m here.”

“And why didn’t you say anything, huh?” Phoenix challenged.

Pierce shrugged. “Honestly, I was just impressed with what I saw. Both with the song, and that mural. I didn’t realize you twins were so talented.”

“W-what…?” Twy responded, dumbfounded. “Uh…th-thanks…?”

“Since when do you give people compliments?!” Sky remarked. “Are you trying to butter us up, or something?”

“Uncommon… but happens,” Kestrel stated.

“Hey, if you don’t want to accept my compliments, then, whatever,” Pierce replied. “I just call it like I see it, that’s all.”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure,” Phoenix said with a roll of her eyes, and then made a shooing motion towards Pierce. “Now get on with whatever else you were doing! We have practice to do, so you’re in the way!”

“Sheesh. You guys need to chill out,” Pierce declared, but nonetheless began moving towards the edge of the roof. “You’re performing in front of an entire crowd, tomorrow. If you’re embarrassed just to have me watching, then you’ll fall into pathetic pieces, tomorrow.”

“I— I don’t need to hear that from you!” Sky insisted.

“Alright, then. See if I ever compliment you again,” Pierce retorted. “Good luck. Maybe you’ll need it.”

“Wait, what are you—?” Twy began to ask, clearly concerned as Pierce climbed the waist-high retaining wall at the edge of the roof. However, before she could say anything more, Pierce leaped from the top of the wall, easily clearing the entire campus courtyard before landing neatly right in front of the doors to the classroom building.

Once on the ground again, Pierce straightened out his posture and dusted himself off. There were a handful of students nearby, all of them working on Creators’ Day preparations, but none of them paid Pierce any mind as he strode toward the entrance doors and made to open them — only for the doors to swing outward right before he could grab them. Reacting quickly, he stepped back to make room for the three students exiting the building… though upon spotting him, they soon stopped in their tracks.

“Oh! Pierce!” Liask remarked, a smile crossing her face as she looked him over. “You’re here already!”

“Hey, playboy,” Minilas greeted, her tone as deadpan as always.

“Just my luck, runnin’ into you here…” Obra grumbled.

“Well it’s nice to see you all,” Pierce replied with a smirk as he wrapped elbows with Liask. “Seems like I was right on time, huh?” He then passed Minilas a glance. “Why’re you here, though? I thought Liask and Obra were the only ones with detention.”

“I waited inside,” Minilas replied.

“She’s got a better sense of time than you,” Obra declared, only to wince as Minilas pinched him in the side.

“Leave the playboy alone,” she said.

“Why do you keep calling me ‘playboy’?” Pierce protested.

“That’s just Minilas, for you!” Liask said with a smile.

“Ugh…” Obra held an irritated hand to his head. “…Fuckin’ detention on a Skydia evenin’, even the one right before Creators’ Day… and then I have to run into you. This is all so dirt-damned stupid…”

“I think you need dinner,” Minilas declared, fabricating a sandwich out of thin air and shoving it into Obra’s hands. She then grabbed his cloak and began dragging him off. “Now let’s leave the lovebirds be. See ya, Liask.”

“Wha-what—? H-hey, I can walk myself…!” Obra insisted, quickly shaking Minilas off of him but nonetheless following her back to the dorms.

Pierce and Liask watched the duo leave before looking back at each other.

“Sorry about them…” Liask said with an uneasy smile.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Pierce airily replied. “Well, Obra’s still a little annoying, but at least he isn’t spitting in my face anymore, heh.”

“True…” Liask then began looking out over the courtyard, and the Creators’ Day decorations and stalls that adorned it. “…Wow. They’ve sure setup a lot while I was in there…”

“It’s kinda impressive,” Pierce remarked. “All the setup in the city, too. I never expected everyone here to take a holiday like Creators’ Day so seriously.”

“Well, it’s like I said yesterday: Creators’ Day is a holiday that celebrates what we make, so lots of people like it.”

“No kidding…” Pierce mused, his own gaze drifting across the courtyard. As he looked, thoughts of the other Earthians came to mind — of Austin, Spike, Conrad, and Kirstin hammering out the details of Austin’s so-called ‘one-shot’; and of Sky, Twy, Phoenix and Kestrel working on Sky’s performance. Seems like everyone else is doing something… he thought to himself, at which point he glanced down at Liask. “Hey, uh… Creators’ Day is all about, uh… creating stuff, right?”

Liask nodded. “Yep.”

“Well… how many people actually make something? Is that a thing that everyone does…?”

“Not everyone, really. There’s still plenty of people who just show up to look at the stuff that other people make. Hmm…” Liask paused for a moment to think. “…Now that I think about it, I don’t really know how many people usually do the ‘making’. It always seems like a lot, but I’m not sure.”

“I see… do you know if it’s like that for all of Nimalia?”

“I… really don’t know. Creators’ Day is kinda new to Treséd, honestly — when compared to other holidays, at least. I think Tresnon might be the only Compound that celebrates it? And I heard that even that only started a few decades ago. So the way we do it probably isn’t exactly how you’d see Creators’ Day in other places…”

“Hmm…” Pierce nodded absentmindedly. And among all that… I’m not even doing anything, huh?

“…You alright?”

Pierce looked down at Liask again, finding that she was giving him a concerned look. Upon seeing this, he cracked a reassuring smile. “…I’m fine. Anyways, I believe we have a dinner date to get to, don’t we?”

“Right!” Liask responded. “I’ve been lookin’ forward to this all through detention!”

“Ha! Well then, I’ll try not to disappoint!” Pierce declared as the two began walking toward the campus gates, ready to spend a night on the town before the big day tomorrow — before the celebrations of Compound Tresnon’s Creators’ Day.