❝DÉVOUEMENT❞ ; twst.

✦ chapter twenty two.

ೃ༄ "good job, diasomnia brat. take a rest now."
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the first years circled amongst themselves as the ramshackle residents shared their plan to the rest. ace, deuce, and jack were silent and were almost in disbelief upon hearing yuu's somewhat dangerous plan. "i finally understood why n/n told me to threaten leona, so that's the plan we came up with..." spoke yuu. the three stayed silent for a while before jack questioned, "...are you serious?" yuu nodded and said, "you heard me. off to coral sea we go."

"no, man, wait!" exclaimed ace, "didn't we agree that getting the picture is impossible 'cause of the leech twins?!" deuce nodded in agreement and added, "it is quite reckless..." grim clicked his tongue as he crossed his arms, "tsk, tsk, tsk. listen, guys. our strategy is—" the monster suddenly started coughing, making the diasomnia first year offer a bottle of water to him. "what's up with you? you got a cold or something?" asked ace. grim shook his head as he replied, "no, we did a lot of shouting earlier, so... ahem, that doesn't matter. i'll explain our strategy for today."

grim discussed the strategies they'll be using in order to get the picture and fulfill the contract's conditions. as soon as grim finished his statement, the three were in shock as they exclaimed, "ehhh?!" ace looked at yuu and said, "are you for real?! that's some bold strategy, dude!" deuce nodded as he said, "you're a gutsy man, yuu." jack was a little hesitant as he asked, "still... do you think it will work?" deuce replied, "we've gone this far. so, all we can do is follow yuu's ideas. we really don't have much time left." ace hummed in agreement as he said, "true, it's better than waiting for the day to end without doing anything."

jack was silent for a moment before nodding at them, "... got it. nothing will happen if we loiter around here. you really are a straightforward guy when it comes to your decisions, huh, yuu." ace replied to jack, "he can be a little bit too forward sometimes, though... alright~ let's go!" grim lifted his paw in the air and said, "let's go and get that picture from the atlantica memorial museum!"

...

"eh?! it's closed?!"

jack sighed and said, "oi, oi... our timing's the worst..." deuce slumped his shoulders in defeat as he said, "the leech twins aren't here so i sort of relaxed, but... did they know about this?" the three first years sighed before ace claimed that he had a plan. the group watched as the auburn haired first year swam away from them and set his plan to action. "wahh?! for real~?!" exclaimed ace. "hm? what's wrong, little lad?" asked the guard. "i-is the museun closed today? i can't believe it... i was so looking forward to coming here too..." frowned ace.

"oh dear, what a strange tail you've got there. did you come from the surface? did you come here by yourself?" asked the guard as he observed ace's features. ace nodded with a grin on his face, "yes! i've always admired mermaids since i was a kid. i drank some magical potion that i bought with my own allowance so i can finally visit. oh, man... you're a real mermaid! you look so cool! can i have a closer look?"