01.24 - A Day at The Waterpark

After they had finished their snacks, the group split up.

Luc joined forces with Uriah and Gabe.

They met at an empty parking lot belonging to the waterpark, from which the fireworks were usually launched. The central concrete-paved area was wide open, its surface heated up by the sunlight and hot to the touch.

The edges of the lot were cooler, shaded by rows of large Cypress trees.

Uriah and Gabe had already parked their two Thrones in their shade with a few Aura batteries beside them. They had left sacks filled with pellets in the middle of the parking lot, along with more than a few dozen self-made launchers that had yet to be arranged in their final launching positions.

The setup took quite some time, as they carefully placed the payloads in the launchers and connected them with Aura-conducting wires to the Thrones.

One Throne was to be piloted by Luc, whose spells were responsible for the acceleration, keeping the payload floating in the air, and some light emission.

The other Throne was to be piloted by Uriah, whose spells, after some delay, changed the pellets from solid to powder and tweaked their reactivity with air so they would burn up like proper fireworks.

Gabe supported them with the setup and was on standby to handle any trouble they might have with the Thrones.

Just as their main setup was done, and the three were about to relax, Luc addressed his already exhausted friends.

“You know, I still want to go for the big finale.”

Uriah sighed. “We have gone over this three times already.”

“But I still think we can do it!”

“Look,” said Uriah. “We've barely managed to get the regular preparations done in time. We tried your proposal once last night; it barely worked and only used like a third of the projectiles we’d need.”

Gabe cut in too. “Plus, we’ve hardly enough pellets as is. Where should we get more at this time?”

“We could decrease the number of regular fireworks. Our audience doesn’t know how many we had planned to fire anyway.”

“Fair point,” Gabe said.

“But we have to rewire half the launchers and adjust the spells accordingly,” said Uriah. "There is barely enough time, and if we mess it up…”

“No one knows what to expect,” Luc interrupted him. “If we fail, we’ll just have an uncoordinated mess of explosions for the finale.”

“Fine,” Uriah said. “So much for our break.”

“Thanks.”

Uriah exhaled. “I hate you, you know?”

“I know,” said Luc. “Love you too, buddy. Let’s get to work.”

---

While Luc’s group was busy with the setup, Vega, Merope, and Kass joined Aqua and the Cuddle-Fish in entertaining the younger children who had come to play with them.

Cuddles and the others didn’t regularly work at the waterpark. Their home was only part of the annex, and they did not join the guests, except for some special occasions, though they did enjoy the attention and laughter of the kids.

Aqua was an intermediary between the Hunters’ Guild and the ‘Ruler of the Sea.’

The Cuddle-Fish under her care usually supported hunters in securing the nearby bay and waterways. She did help out with the waterpark every now and then, since her main duties allowed for quite some spare time.

The afternoon went by in a haze. Kids and Cuddle-Fish alike played in the water and used the slides. The Cuddle-Fish entertained the kids by changing their color and texture to match their surroundings and created a colorful show by rapidly switching their appearance.

With only an hour or two left till sunset, it was time for the other main event of the day:

Water gun team matches in a Swiss tournament.

Vega and her friends assisted Aqua in sorting the children into four teams by drawing lots.

Each team was assigned to either Wiggles, Snuggles, Bubbles, or Puddles.

All participants were given a paper target mounted to a cap. The children had simple water guns, while the Cuddle-Fish used Matter Creation water spells to hit their targets. Once a paper target was soaked and torn by the water pressure, the corresponding player was out of the game.

A match would continue until all players of one team had been taken out. The battle took place in a separate grass area that had many larger and smaller obstacles to hide behind, as well as some water traps that could soak and destroy any paper target that met its water stream.

The Cuddle-Fish changed in and out of stealth by adjusting their bodies' color and texture to their environment, with the paper targets on their hats giving their position away, which led to quite some amusement among the younger kids, some of whom played along in their game of pretend hide-and-seek.

Some of the older kids didn’t.

A nine-year-old boy, in particular, took aim at a hidden Snuggles’ paper target.

He was met with a quick dodge and a reciprocated stream of water, taking him out in turn.

The Cuddle-Fish rarely interfered otherwise, only missing a target here and there or messing with some of the older, more skilled kids if the match proved to be too one-sided for the younger participants to enjoy.

The first two rounds ended with a victory for Snuggles’ and Bubbles’ teams, who then met each other.

Bubbles’ group claimed the victory and advanced to the final match of the day.