'Blasted luck!'
Nico grumbled to himself as he slowly opened his eyes. The VR capsule that encased his figure, hummed softly, before rising with a mechanical whirring noise. He carefully removed the headset which was connected to the U-Tron 3000 and squinted.
It took his eyes a couple of seconds to adjust in the face of the sudden light.
As he turned his head, a wave of vertigo washed over Nico, forcing him to remain still. A few moments later, the dizzy spell passed, allowing him to emerge out of the capsule, and face the person who had thoroughly outclassed him.
"How in the blazing fates did you win?!" Nico asked as he gritted his teeth.
His mind failed to comprehend how on earth the sister of the Saintess had survived the Cerberus's attack.
Toni just smirked.
Gazing at her smug face, Nico's body trembled. He had an inexplicable urge to wipe that smirk off her face.
Rather than do something he might regret later though, the brown-haired boy just sighed and waited patiently for an explanation.
Seeing that her taunt had no effect, Toni huffed. "You're no fun."
Nico's right eyebrow twitched. He schooled his face into an impassive expression, refusing to let the smartly dressed woman have the satisfaction of riling him up.
"Fine! Have it your way," It was Toni's turn to sigh. "The key was timing. When I was climbing the boulders to reach the flag, I secretly created a water clone just in case the overgrown puppy woke up and went on a rampage. I admit, you took me by surprise with your decisive action of waking the Cerberus. However, all I had to do was improvise a little in return.
"While you and I fought the Cerberus, I kept the clone as an ace up my sleeve and left it right beside the flag. I knew that the Cerberus - or any other Boss Monster really - could unleash a devastating strike when it goes completely berserk. So, just as the flames were about to hit me, I switched with the clone and had it tank the attack…"
Nico blinked, stupefied. The level of foresight required to achieve such a feat spoke volumes of her experience and knowledge.
'Knowledge really is power.'
"After that, well… the rest is history. There was no chance of you coming out the victor against a master of the arcade, like me..." The sister of the Saintess snickered, triumph etched all over her face.
A vein pulsed on Nico's temple in response to the provocation. He inhaled a deep breath and bit back the retort that threatened to escape his lips.
While Toni's antics were certainly vexing, he couldn't help but admire her wit and the incredible strategy she had implemented perfectly to a tee.
It seemed it wasn't just the Saintess who was amazing in the sibling trio. Nico also intuitively had a feeling that Noble was just as incredible as her two sisters.
In the company of the three brilliant people, a smile filled with boundless admiration and respect appeared on the boy's face.
'I'm blessed to have met them. Truly.'
***
"Poor Nico. You should have gone easy on him, Toni." Noble lightly chastised her sister as they exited the Arcade. Contrary to her words, her face held no visible frown, but a pleasant smile instead.
Noble knew that her sibling had spent most of her childhood enraptured with arcade games… almost to the point of having no life at all. So, there was no real, feasible way that the brown-haired boy could have won.
Much to her disappointment.
The look on Toni's face if she had lost would have been priceless.
"Excuse me, sister. It's my fault for wanting to teach the kid a valuable life lesson," The smartly dressed woman's shoulders dropped exaggeratedly, seemingly very contrite.
Nico was not to be fooled, however. "And that would be?"
"Preparation!" she perked up, declaring grandly.
Gazing at the dark expression on the kid's face, a subtle smirk secretly graced Toni's face.
Nico's mouth twitched. He shook his head, baffled at the shamelessness of the older woman, before walking up to the Saintess who was a couple of steps ahead.
The streets were becoming less crowded, with the rush from lunch hour evidently subsiding. The sun had also travelled past its zenith, heralding the afternoon.
'Charlotte should be done with school right about now.'
A smile split Nico's face at the thought.
Clearing his throat, he gazed at the lightly armoured female beside him from the corner of his eye, "Hey, um, Miss Saintess? Is it okay if we head to the city gates now? I'm supposed to be meeting my family there."
The Saintess who had a look of deep thought on her face snapped out of her contemplation. It took a moment for the boy's words to register in her mind.
"Sure," she agreed after a pause.
Nico bowed his head in gratitude, "Thank you."
A warm smile was his only response.
A while later they arrived at the city gates. Nico scanned the crowds of people in search of his family. Not too long after, a flash of silver caught his attention.
Peering closer, he found Charlotte trying to drag his mother towards an establishment selling sweets not too far away. His father stood beside them leaning on his cane, watching the spectacle with an amused expression on his face.
A chuckle full of mirth inadvertently escaped Nico's mouth.
As he turned around to part ways with the sibling trio, the Saintess's voice stopped him in his tracks. "If it's possible, could we greet your family?"
Nico blinked for a moment, caught off-guard, before nodding his head to signal his acceptance of the idea.
Charlotte, who turned her head, caught sight of her brother's figure approaching along with a group of strangers.
Not paying any mind to the newcomers, the little girl let go of her mother's hand, dashed towards her older sibling, and launched herself at him, confident that he could catch her.
"Brother!"
A wide smile appeared on Nico's face.
Groaning as his sister's little form crashed into his chest, he chuckled. "Good to see you, Lottie. Have a good day at school?"
"Mhmm!" Charlotte bobbed her head up and down enthusiastically.
Nico squeezed his sister, finding her to be too adorable for this hellish world.
'I'm definitely not a siscon...'
Just as Nico released his sister and intended to go greet his parents who were slowly making their way towards him, he felt someone push him aside.
As he shifted his neck, his face darkened.
"Move aside!" Toni said as she inspected Charlotte. "Oh, dear Fates! Look how adorable, innocent, and cute she is!"
The lady dressed in formal attire swept the silver-haired girl in an abrupt hug. Charlotte didn't have any time to react to the older woman's movements.
The little girl squirmed, attempting to break free.
The squirming only increased after she heard Toni speak:
"I'm so sorry you have 'him' as your brother."
Nico's eyebrows quivered after hearing the last part.
Just as he was about to make a move, the Saintess beat him to it, clamping an iron hand on her sibling's shoulder. "Toni, release that poor child right now."
The lightly armoured female had an aghast expression on her face. The brown-haired boy witnessed her eyes shift between a mixture of green and grey.
Noble gripped Toni's other shoulder, and with her eldest sister's help, pried the smartly dressed lady away from the poor child.
Charlotte, who could now finally breathe, buried her face in Nico's legs. "Don't listen to her brother, you're the best."
A soft smile appeared on Nico's face as he placated his younger sibling. Throwing Toni an annoyed glance, he patted Charlotte on the head until she stopped sniffling.
"If I may…" The saintess gently interrupted, "Can I apologise to her for my sister's actions?"
"Sure. Is that okay with you, Lottie?" Nico's voice turned tender as if his sister was the most fragile thing in the world.
The little girl raised her head and stared at the Saintess. She gradually forgot about what happened, becoming enraptured with the woman's mesmerising eyes.
Taking her silence as a positive sign, the lightly armoured female spoke gently, her voice coming across as nothing more than a soothing whisper. "I'm sorry, little one. She meant you no harm. She just found you… too adorable to resist. Can you forgive her for me?"
As she finished, an item suddenly appeared in her hand.
It was a sweetie.
Charlotte's gaze fell on the piece of candy, and her eyes instantly sparkled.
The Saintess slowly extended her hand until she placed the item in Charlotte's dainty palms.
"T-Thank you!" The silver-haired girl said shyly.
"Don't mention it." the older woman smiled fondly, resisting the urge to hug the precious girl.
Charlotte giggled happily to herself.
Gazing at the expression of joy on his sister's face, Nico secretly clenched his fists.
He would do everything in his power and more to preserve that pure smile.
Whether that would be enough to ensure her survival in the face of the coming threats, only time would tell.
A bleak sigh escaped his lips.