After finishing the hearty breakfast, it was finally ti to burn off so of that energy—and have a little fun.
Sera stretched her arms up with a grin, then turned to Aether with a cheeky expression. "Alright, now that we've eaten… no, I'm not taking you to a hotel to 'do sothing,' got it?" she declared firmly, her hands on her hips.
The funny part? She was literally standing right in front of an old hotel.
Aether squinted, unconvinced. "Uh-huh. You're standing in front of a hotel and acting all innocent?" he asked with a raised brow, his expression dripping with playful skepticism. "You definitely thought about it, didn't you?"
Sera imdiately averted her gaze and started whistling like a suspicious cat. "Whaaat? I didn't think anything like that at all! Believe !"
Aether crossed his arms. "Sure you didn't."
"Pfft—shut up!" she pouted, then suddenly brightened. "Anyway! You just asked the perfect question! Why are we here, hmm? Let show you!"
Without another word, she grabbed his arm and dragged him inside the hotel with a triumphant smirk on her face.
The interior was old, clearly aged, but still intact—worn but clean. Standing behind the front desk was a familiar face. It was the boy whose grandmother had earlier mistaken Aether for the Archpriestess.
The boy's eyes widened a bit and he imdiately bowed. "W-Welco to our humble Arcade Hotel!"
He looked slightly nervous, probably still haunted by his grandma's earlier blunder with the 'Archpriestess.'
"Arcade… Hotel?" Aether echoed, blinking in confusion.
The boy nodded quickly, trying to regain his composure. "Y-Yes, sir! This place is both an inn and an arcade. It was built during the ti the Academy was still active. Back then, visitors and students weren't allowed to roam too far from the grounds, so this was the only recreational spot available."
His tone shifted into a surprisingly professional one as he led them down a creaky set of stairs to the ground floor.
To Aether's surprise, the space below opened into a vibrant little hall filled with colourful, nostalgic gas. It wasn't like the modern arcades he'd heard about—more like an old-school festival setup.
Sera bead and muttered softly, "I used to co here all the ti when I was a kid. I was kind of a local champion, you know~"
The boy gestured to a peculiar ga station near the centre. "Our most famous ga—Crystal Catcher," he announced proudly.
Aether tilted his head curiously. The ga featured a large glass do, filled with thousands of glowing, floating crystal shards. A magnetic wand was used to snatch the crystals within 30 seconds. But there was a catch—each crystal had a different trait. So shimred, so tingled, so chid softly when caught.
Only the chiming ones were considered true winners… but those were rarer than rare.
Like one in a thousand rare.
Aether leaned in, inspecting it. It reminded him of that old children's ga with the magnetic fish and spinning disc, 'So, it's a fancier version of magnetic fishing?' he thought.
Sera stepped up, eyes gleaming with mischief. "Let's make it interesting~ Whoever catches more crystals does anything the winner wants. Deal?" She held out the wand, daring him.
Aether grinned wickedly. "You'll regret that, woman. I'm a legend at this kind of stuff."
They stood face to face, eyes locked, competitive sparks flying. The boy wisely backed away under Sera's intense glare and went to hide behind the counter, watching nervously from afar.
Aether cracked his knuckles, took the wand confidently, and started.
He moved fast, his hand darting around the do with practised precision. He even cheekily used a bit of his power to increase his speed, smirking smugly with each crystal caught.
After 30 seconds, he held up his handful of shiny trophies. "Hah! Not bad, huh?"
Sera raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Small boy" she teased, folding her arms with an amused smirk.
Aether's eyes narrowed. "Oh really? You think you can do better?"
Sera stepped forward, eyes sparkling. "Do better? I'll crush it," she said as she snatched the wand.
Aether leaned back, arms crossed, ready to watch her fail. After all, he'd cheated a little with his powers—no way she could match that.
Until…
He blinked.
Sera held out the wand, and within seconds, crystals began flying to her like tal to a magnet. Not just one or two—but hundreds. She wasn't even moving anymore. She just held the wand still, letting the magnetic pulse pull in crystal after crystal, forming a chain reaction like a cascading wave of glitter.
Aether's jaw dropped.
"Did you forget?" Sera said sweetly, winking at him. "I lived here once~ I know the tricks."
"That's cheating!" he shouted, half-laughing and half-panicking.
"Like when you used your powers to move faster?" she shot back.
"Cough—irrelevant!" Aether coughed, looking away as his face flushed.
Sera held up her pile of crystals like a trophy. "Just so you know, it's totally allowed! I've been the reigning champion of this ga since I was eleven. Still undefeated!"
Aether stared at her pile. He'd been defeated. rcilessly... In less than 30 seconds!
She smirked at him, face glowing with victory. "Sooo… now you have to do anything I say~"
But before she could continue her teasing...
"How about a bonus round?" Aether interrupted with a grin. "Catch the sound crystal. The rare one that chis."
Sera narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Trying to weasel your way out of losing, huh?"
"I call it… making things interesting," Aether replied with a sly grin.
Sera chuckled, brushing a bit of hair from her face. "Nice try, Mister 'Small Boy' I'm not falling for your tricks that easily."
Aether bit his lips. He was not going to lose… he couldn't allow it—especially after bragging that it would be a cakewalk for him. And seeing Sera's smug, victorious grin made it even worse.... He had to win!!
Aether tried to taunt her, "Oh? Are you scared, Lady? I thought you said you won many tis… are you scared of losing now?" he grinned with a wicked tone, his face turning pitifully soft, "If so... I'll let this slide. Don't worry, I'll forget this day where you were 'just' scared~"
Hoping to work... Fortunately... It fucking worked!!
Sera's lips twitched violently. She knew he was provoking her… but still… seeing that smug grin and that pitiful face—
"Fine!!" she snapped with a sharp nod.
Aether grinned in satisfaction.
"However… no one's allowed to use their powers. And the loser has to do two things!! Got it?" Sera said with a firm, serious tone.
Aether nodded, "Of course," as he added, 'After all, we know who is the winner here!'
As both of them raised their wands, the tir started.
Aether and Sera's eyes road through the hundreds of crystals... searching for the only one that would make a sound.
Aether wasn't sure which one it was. All of them were glowing in different colours—so looked the sa, others were unique. It was nearly impossible to tell which one was the sound crystal. So he resorted to Sera's earlier thod… trying to catch as many as possible.
Sera snorted at his technique but didn't use what she'd done before… because she knew—that crystal was a different beast. Even back in her old days, she had barely caught it once or twice.
That's how rare and difficult it was.
Why?
Because that particular sound crystal needed direct contact with the wand. If not, it would fall off.
And above all… it changed colours. That made it incredibly difficult to spot.
If she were lucky, she might be able to notice the colour-changing crystal… which appeared rarely and often slipped past unnoticed.
She was hoping to catch just a glimpse.
Aether, who had collected hundreds of crystals using her original thod, frowned.... Why wasn't she doing anything?
He didn't know what was going on, but one thing was certain—Sera knew sothing.
Aether gritted his teeth… maybe he should've chosen sothing else. But there was no point in regretting it now.
Instead of picking everything blindly, he focused on following her eyes…
'Looks like she's searching for sothing…' he thought, his gaze sweeping across the do, trying to see what she saw.
But… nothing. He couldn't see anything different—
"That!" Aether's eyes widened as he spotted a colour-changing crystal. Without thinking, he threw his wand toward it. He didn't know why… but that was the only one changing colours. He had no hesitation.
However—
Ting!
Sera's wand struck the sa crystal at the exact mont.
"I touched it first," Aether said, glaring.
Sera shook her head, "No. I saw it first."
Aether's lips twitched as he gripped the wand tightly, trying to pull the crystal away from her.
Sera frowned and pulled back as well. "Let it go, Aether! I found it first!!"
Aether grinned, "I touched it first. So it's mine! Let it go, Sera."
Neither of them was backing down. They needed to win... And due to the strong magnetic force, the crystal stuck to both of their wands.
"Aether… darling~ Pretty please~" Sera said in a sweet, seductive tone.
Aether shook his head, "That won't work on !!" He pulled with even more force.
Sera's lips twitched as she yanked harder, even using a bit of power. She was not letting go. She needed this win.
With this, she could get what she wanted!!
She was not letting it go!!
Crack… the crystal cracked.
Aether frowned, "You're cheating!"
Sera grinned, "Who cares? It's all about winning." And as she said that, she snapped her fingers—a bright flash of light burst in front of Aether's eyes, blinding him for a second.
Sera grinned as she leaned in to take the crystal, "Just a few more inches… it'll be mine. And Aether… hehe~ will do anything I ask~" She gave a wicked grin with a sly smile. But just as her fingers were about to touch the crystal—
But just as her fingers brushed the crystal—
BONK!
Aether twisted his wand mid-air and smacked the crystal like he was serving in a championship tennis match. The poor glowing shard shot across the do like a wild pinball on steroids.
"NOOO!!" Sera screeched as she stomped the floor, then launched herself into the air like an angry flying squirrel chasing after a golden acorn. Her hair flared like a cape, her mouth opened in a dramatic battle cry that would terrify even the bravest warriors.
Just as her fingers reached out for the crystal, Aether suddenly appeared right beside her like a magic rabbit popping out of a hat, hand outstretched with a smug grin.
"Mine—!"
SMACK!
Sera swatted his hand away like he was an obnoxious mosquito buzzing near her ear.
"Oh no, you don't," she growled.
Aether, ever the tactical nace, retaliated imdiately by grabbing her leg in midair.
"HEY!" she yelped, arms flailing as she began to topple backward. Her eyes locked onto Aether's smug face and his sneaky hand creeping toward the crystal.
"Hehe—" Aether grinned, right before—
SNATCH!
Sera caught his foot with a grin of her own. "Let's fall together, darling~" she cooed like a villainess in a romcom.
And then—
CRASH!!
Both of them slamd down onto the do floor in a heap, tangled like two cats fighting in a laundry basket. Crystals tumbled down from above like a miniature avalanche, clinking and bouncing off their limbs, their heads, and even into their clothes.
They blinked.
One beat passed.
Then—
"Hahaha!!"
"Hahaha!!"
Both of them exploded in uncontrollable laughter, wheezing and clutching their sides while still buried under a glowing sea of shards. Their wands had vanished sowhere under the pile like lost treasure. Aether sat up slightly, only to find a crystal in his mouth.
"Pfft—ptoo! Did I just eat one?!" he coughed and spit it out with a dramatic gag.
Sera burst into louder laughter, wiping tears from her eyes. "You might start glowing from the inside."
They couldn't stop laughing. It was stupid. It was insane. But it was also—sohow—the most fun they'd had in forever.
And then—
THUD!
Sothing dropped from the top of the do and bounced off a pile of crystals nearby, making a soft ting sound.
Their laughter died instantly.
They blinked.
Their pupils dilated.
Then, in perfect harmony:
""IT'S MINE!!""
The chase was back on.
However, the crystal had already changed its colour and lay away from their searching area.
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