Prove Your Worth

As her sister drew her new sword (realistic though completely dull, as all weapons were in the park) Frankie watched from the sidelines, joining the party around her.

“Oh, Percival… he’s always doing this…”

Frankie perked up the second the mage boy next to her uttered the syllable “Per.” It made her embarrassed how desperate she was for anyone else on the planet who’d read her favorite piece of media. Of course, this only served to disconfirm the prospect. Wait, it finally clicked in her hooded head. These were the very people I’d already been tricked by earlier, on the way to the castle. She sighed. So that was it? Just a jerk named Percival in the group… no sign of my beloved phytoplankton anywhere.

“He doesn’t know how to talk to girls.” The group’s thief responded to what the mage had said, leering at the battle from afar. The barbarian watched too, though he said nothing. “Your friend’s pretty good. You two come here often?”

“Uh, n-no…” for some reason, Frankie’s charisma buff from the fantasy setting was suddenly wearing off. Maybe it was the consistent misinterpretations she’d made in her head, or maybe it was because she liked girls a lot. Either way it was becoming harder to speak, and the lady was already talking her ear off.

“Wait… oh, you two are from “across the sea,” yeah? You look kinda alike. Are you sisters? I wish I had a sister. That’s wicked.”

“Serah, you’re bothering her…” the magician shyly confronted.

“Relax, bird boy. I won’t leave you for her. The young wizard only rolled his eyes at her corny advance.

“Bird boy…?” Frankie repeated. The spellcaster was happy to explain.

“I use both offensive and healing magic. Most people call casters like me Cardinal Mages, as opposed to Raven and Dove Mages that specialize in one branch or the other.”

He was short and had a slight frame, only exaggerated by the dark navy-purple robes that drowned his form. He wore small, cute glasses and had a round face that hardly moved as he talked.

“This is Greg, he’s our support. Cute, but a bit of a chatterbox.” Serah continued the introductory lecture in far fewer words. “I’m sure you could tell by the daggers on my hips, but I’m the party thief. Neat, huh?”

“You should’ve been a bard…” Greg snarky, though quietly, remarked.

“You should've backed me up last night while we were picking where to eat. You’re nothing like Rocco. Right, Rocco…?” She threw herself into the enormous bare arms of the party barbarian. He was completely oblivious to the young woman, just watching the fight play out.

“She’s a good fighter.” He spoke in few words and a deep register. “Has she trained?”

“Never…” Frankie watched her sister hold her own against the knight, clashing swords over and over with a smile on her face. A crowd was gathering. Neither duelist had struck the other yet. It was nothing extraordinary in a large scale, but nonetheless exciting to behold.

“Oh, maybe these sisters do have some talent on their hands…” Serah smirked. “Hope Percy doesn’t get too hurt, nice as it’d be to nurse him back to health…”

Percival took a hard swing downward, hoping to catch Katie off guard. Luckily for her, this was exactly what she was waiting for. With a quick backstep, the blade came down on nothing but the air, and the boy was open to a quick poke from the blunt tip of her blade.

The adventurer girl laughed. “That was fun! Can we fight again, later maybe?”

Percy panted, raising himself to his feet. He wasn’t humiliated- just impressed. And happy to have a new goal to strive for.

“I’ll take you on anytime.”

The warriors bumped fists. She continued to giggle as they walked their way back to the group.

“Welcome to the party!” Serah greeted with open arms.