Zafírvíztár

Back at the hotel, everyone decided to try dining at the hotel's fancy restaurant, just to see what the experience was like.

"Wow, it's really ambient here. Reminds me of Lagoon Pathways," Mimoko smiled as she took note of the cool blue lightning and various water fountains sprinkled throughout.

"They don't call this place "Zafírvíztár" for nothing. Feels like you're inside a sapphire lagoon," Daria grinned.

"I feel bad that we can't bring Iori-chan with us," Mimoko frowned.

"Do not waste pity for her, Mimoko-sama. Tanabe will bring her leftovers, and your mother has decreed we'll dine here again once she's better," Utami huffed.

"Only if the food's good though," Mori grumbled as he stared at the menu.

"I'll admit, it would have felt better if we dined in the dining hall as usual, given what happened today," Okisato sighed.

"And whose fault might it be that you got the team into such a losing position, hmm?" Mimoko angrily smiled.

"You ever faced Arun? He's fine-tuned to handling many popular lines, so I felt like surprising him could work..."

"...But it didn't. I understand why its good to play uncommon openings, but if you do, they need to be PLAYABLE uncommon openings."

"Bongcloud is-"

"Ta-na-be-kun, if you continue with that statement, I'll challenge you to a little game here, and should you lose, I'll have you banished to the hotel room, where you'll dine on room service and spend the night practicing PLAYABLE lines."

Okisato scowled as he backed down. "I'll go for a little walk around the place. If they want to take our orders, water, and the berry assortment is what I want."

"You want berries?"

"Yes, I quite like them."

As Okisato made his way out of the restaurant, he eventually came across trouble in the hallway.

"P- Please. Leave me alone!" a girl with short white hair with blue highlights clad in a tracksuit and sneakers trembled as a man clad in Mongol armor cornered her against a wall.

"No way. I feel like making you one of my wives. Now let's have some fun," the man sneered as he grabbed the girl's face.

"Oi, you trying to rape that girl?" Okisato growled as he revealed himself.

"Huh? Of course. I'm taking her as a wife," the man sneered as he clenched the girl's face tighter.

"Pretty bold of you to come out and say it," Okisato glared as he cracked his knuckles.

"I do things like it's 1206," the man smirked as he threw the girl aside and approached Okisato, ready to throw down.

The girl took her chance to try and escape, however, she was blocked by a girl with jet black twintails and glowing yellow eyes.

"Möge saw you trying to escape . Why you run?" the girl asked as her head began to rotate 360 degrees.

The white-haired girl let out a scream and fell to the ground as the man turned towards her and the other girl and sighed. "Möge? Why are you here? I can have my fun."

"Jad is looking for you, so Möge went searching. Who is this woman? Is she a new threat to Möge?"

Jochi scowled as Okisato stared at Möge. It was clear by the fact that her head was rotating 360 degrees that she was either possessed or undead. Her pale grey skin and fact that her eyes were black instead of white seemed to point more towards the later.

"Does Jad NEED me? And don't try and claim he wants me not to get more wives. He's already got... how many?"

"Möge heard Jad wants you, so Möge came to fetch you!"

"Then drag that girl back with us."

"OKAY!"

Okisato quickly blocked Möge's path to the girl.

"Move, Möge needs that girl so Jochi will return to Jad."

"Ugh, then would a game of chess settle this?"

Jochi clicked his tongue and pulled up his WWCF card, but began scowling as he realized who he was dealing with. "Don't bother Möge, we'll come to claim her another day, the day after we crush Japan," he menacingly declared as he and Möge began walking away.

Once they were gone, the white-haired girl emerged from behind Okisato. "Th- Thank you..."

"You shouldn't be roaming alone. Shall I escort you back to where-"

"SHIRA!" a voice cried out.

Okisato turned to see a dark-skinned girl with gold hair and matching gold clothes and sneakers running towards him and the white-haired girl. He quickly stepped aside as the two girls embraced each other in a hug.

"Guess I'll take my leave," he thought, as he tried to sneak away.

"Ah, wait! I want to thank you proper," the white-haired girl called out.

Okisato turned back around to face the two girls.

"I apologize for the late introductions. I'm Shira Meiri," the white-haired girl bowed.

"Hmm? You're Japanese?"

"Only a quarter. My grandfather was a Japanese soldier who fell in love with a Polish Jew he helped save from the Holocaust. That said, I make it my mission to learn of the greetings and customs of all cultures so as best to greet and form bonds." 

Okisato narrowed his gaze as he stared at Shira. "You seem familiar... Hold on, you were-" 

"AHEM! You just ignore me!?" the dark-skinned girl scoffed.

Okisato began to scowl, but relaxed as he noticed Shira trying to control her trembling hand. "And you are?" 

"I'M Golda Goldschmidt! Fastest girl in the world on chessboard and foot! Gold trader extraordinaire, And of course... a DSPCM! Unfortunately, you don't get the right to challenge me as we are not in a secret puzzle cafe. Though I'm competing, so you can't challenge me now anyway! Ahahaha!" the dark-skinned girl laughed as she flicked one of her drilltails and flashed her gold fingernails along with the gold medal hanging around her neck.

"Nice to meet you. Now, I'll be going."

"Eh, not quite. Shira, want me to ask or think you can do it?" Golda scowled.

An awkward look presented itself on Shira's face as she nervously began to shift in place. "My apologies, but... Do you think you could help some people? I was in the middle of helping them, but then, that man...  ..."

"I guess I have some time," Okisato sighed.

Shira clasped her hands together and smiled. "Thank you. I'll lead... lead..."

"I'LL lead!" Golda smiled as she began walking away with Shira.

The three eventually arrived at a garden terrace not too far away from where they had all met. The flora was all beautifully arranged and illuminated via lightning effects, however, the beauty was marred by a disturbing sight. At the edge of the terrace, four men were bloodied and crucified to wooden crosses.

Okisato's eyes widened as he recognized the men. "Those are the Poles! What happened to them!?"

Shira frowned and shifted her gaze to the ground. Apparently, they had an encounter with Mongolia this last round..."