Twisted Wonderland 2

Wonderful to Be Back

"After careful review of the footage, we've determined that first place goes to... The Seven Swords!"

The crowd cheers as Royal Sword Academy boys are announced the winners. You stand off to the side with the boys and watch them celebrate.

Epel holds his arms to his chest. "We... we lost."

"To Royal Sword Academy..." Sebek watches the celebration disdainfully.

Jade folds his arms in front of him with a hum. "We let them turn things around at the last possible moment."

Idia leans against you, out of breath from the mad dash. "I don't think I've run that much... in years... this is why I shouldn't do stuff I'm bad at!"

You pat his arm. "Hey, you guys did good out there."

"Let's give them all a big round of applause!"

The villagers cheer and clap their hands, talking amongst themselves.

"Shame our team didn't come in first, but BOY was that inspirin'!"

"What a touching show of friendship!"

"It sure was somethin' else! You young'uns fought the good fight!"

Idia scoffs. "Friendship? That's the LAST thing we have! These people are off their rockers!"

Sebek looks away and folds his arms. "To think that we're meeting this applause from second place."

"Yes, it's terribly embarrassing." Jade adds.

The Seven Swords Team rushes over.

Dominic waves cheerfully. "Hey, guys. Good racing out there!"

"You really gave us a run for our money at the end!" Grum smirks.

"Yeah, totally!" Hop cheers. "We had such a fun time!"

"It was a solid race from start to finish." Dominic says. "Everyone was so focused on sledding fast, we didn't even consider crossing the finish line on foot! That was pure genius!"

The boys don't say anything.

You smile sweetly to them. "Congratulations, guys. It was real close in the end."

Dominic nods with a laugh. "Sure was! I can't wait to tell Neige all about it!"

"Can you tell him I said 'hi'?" You ask. "And that I look forward to the next time we can chat?"

Dominic smiles brightly. "Of course! He'd be happy to hear that!"

The team say their goodbyes and rush back to the other Royal Sword boys.

Epel watches as they leave and looks to the ground, clutching his fists. "...this stinks."

Sebek glowers at them. "They don't have to gloat about it!"

"I'm sure they didn't mean anything by it." Jade says while still looking upset himself.

"That makes it worse, actually." Idia adds.

"MAN!" Grim kicks at the snow. "We lost to Royal Sword Academy! Hey, Epel! You woulda won if I'd been racin', ya know!"

"Grim!" You scold the cat.

Grim looks to the lavender haired boy and tilts his head. "What'sa matter?"

You turn to Epel and see he looks really heartbroken about the loss. His shoulders visibly shake from being so tense.