The holographic timer above the center of the arena slowly ticked down to zero. As it reached five, it started beeping loudly to indicate to the audience that the timer was almost up.
*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*
When the beeping finished, Rosie spoke up into her microphone,
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, the time is up! We will now compile your questions and ask them to our amazing competitors, but first…"
She paused, giving the Soul Records the chance to continue for her. "We have a question to ask both teams ourselves!"
She dramatically raised both of her arms, pointing both of her index fingers towards one team each.
"Tell us, what are your team names? Y'know, when there's a competition, there's always cool team names, spill it!"
Both teams were caught off guard by this question, yet after a moment, they decided to talk among themselves and think something up.
…
POV – team day-shift maids,
"Alright…," Clarisse spoke up.
"We need to choose a name befitting of our master…"
The maids all nodded in agreement; they would not defame their master by choosing an unworthy name.
"...any suggestions?"
"Hmm, what about 'Best maids'? I think it speaks volumes about who we are. It also keeps us grounded by showing people that we are still just maids, hmm? Hmm? Watch'ya think?"
Beatrice was the first to speak up, voicing her rather…
weak naming sense.
Nevertheless, she was still proud of it, thinking she had saved the team from entering a heated argument over a name.
Yet, she was mistaken. For less than a moment later, the maid next to her erupted, the maid in question being Anna, her sister.
"Are you a fool? That name is absolute rubbish, just how can one have such terrible naming sense? It is ridiculous, maybe it does highlight all those things you mentioned, but it has no vigor, it makes us look weak and fragile. I will NOT allow us to be portrayed in that manner."
"C-Calm down sis.. the name cant be that bad, r-right?"
Beatrice looked around the table, surveying her fellow maids' faces, which proved her sister's statement. This caused Beatrice to frown; no one had ever told her that her naming sense was bad. Thinking about this seriously wrinkled her mood, and the other maids could see it, which was bad. It was bad because in a competition like this, having one of your teammates not being in their highest mental state was a detrimental risk to the team's overall chances of winning.
The maids didn't want this, so Dorothy spoke up, attempting to salvage the mood,
"Hey, look, there is no need to be upset. How about we decide this as a team? One person's name cannot represent us all, right? Alright, what about…"
…
POV – team night-shift maids,
Scar was the first to speak up, "We need a name that shows just how incredible our master is! I REFUSE to allow you to choose a name that will shame him in any way!"
However, Eve scoffed at that,
"Why don't you just think of a name then?" Eve muttered, annoyance evident in her tone.
'Why does this woman have to be so prim? Its not like we're still the same leashed souls we were back on Thalorind, but this woman loves our master way too much. I love master as well, but…'
"Are you possibly suggesting that 'I' could produce a name befitting our glorious master?"
Scar shot back aggressively.
Yet, this time, Nozomi replied to Scar with a sarcastic expression on her face: "Are you not our 'leader'? If you cannot even pick a name, then what makes us worthy of choosing a name? If we go by your logic then we'll never be able to pick a name."
She said 'leader' while making air quotes with her fingers. Scar paused; Nozomi was correct. She was their leader, if she wasn't worthy enough to pick a name, then who else was? This caused scar to sigh, her own logic…
Thrown back at her. How comical.
Luckily, Yumiko was available to save the day "Guys, I have an idea…"
...
30 seconds later,
The day-shift maids were the first to declare their name. Emily leaned closer to the microphone, voicing the name they have chosen,
"After some thought, we have decided to name our team; The appendages of primus. I mean, its only natural considering who we are, who we serve and our masters status and power."
"Wooow, so cool. Now I wonder, will the night-shift team have an equally awesome name?"
Rosie said with excitement, then moving her head to face the night-shift team.
"This time, Yumiko moved her head closer to the microphone, then said "We have decided to name ourselves; shadows of the colossi."
Rosie's eyes sparkled, she was absolutely content with their naming choices. Internally, she had hoped that they would name themselves something cool and fear-inducing. She was happy that her wish had come true.
It was the Soul records who spoke up next, "Both teams have produced some excellent names, truly commending. I suppose, now that that's out of the way, we can finally get started with the questions from the audience."
She paused for a moment, held up a sleek metallic tablet, and read a question off of it. "This question is for the 'appendages of primus, '" she said whilst looking towards the corresponding team, "Coming from Lilith Ravenshade, she said 'Do you really think you can beat the 'shadows of the colossi, ' who are trained combatants? Who are faster, stronger and have more combat experience than you?'"
"Wow, straight to the point? Well what do the 'appendages of primus' have to say in return?" Rosie blurted out like a professional instigator, it seemed as though she was really hoping for some drama.
Ilde, the mother of Cecile, sighed and spoke up this time, moving closer and speaking condescendingly into the microphone "Listen, let me answer your question with my own, Did you listen to what our esteemed hosts said this event was about? Fighting? Combat? Yes, there may be a combat round, but that is not every round. Let me quote exactly what the Soul Records said earlier, 'this battle is a series of three rounds of activities, all of which activities being something a maid would do in their day-to-day life.' If you listen, then you would understand what that means.-"
She paused for a second, then smiled, a beautiful, cryptic smile, "Also, I should say, you may think that we are just some weak maids, right? Weak figures who only serve because of our past tragedies, right? You never see us outside, on the battlefield. Actually, I suppose its more proper to say that you don't see us at all, so tell me, Lilith Ravenshade…"
"How could 'you', an uninvolved, side character possibly understand the depths of who we are and what we can do?"
By the end of her words, it was almost as though she was angry. Or maybe disappointed? Whatever the case, her words deeply unsettled the audience bar Quinlans family, who see the maids every day and know them personally. The fact that she said all of this with that ever-lasting perplexing smile still plastered upon her face made the audience even more shaken, especially Lilith.
Lilith sat rooted to her seat as if she were glued to it. Beads of sweat poured down her face, connecting at her chin at a rapid pace, her eyes were fixated to the floor. Just now, she had felt something she had not felt in years. It was not fear, fear was a regular feeling for someone of her occupation. It was dread, horror, and terror, it was fear amplified a thousandfold, all from a simple gaze from Ilde.
Contrary to what the audience expected, when they looked at the 'shadows of the colossi', they did not even see a hint of weariness, it was like this subtle expression of power was commonplace for them. It was dreadful. This made the mystery known as the Elysiar family even more unfathomable.
Rosie, who wore a humorous smile throughout the entire interaction, continued as if nothing had happened: "Hmm, wow, we have got a question for a single person. Alright, coming from the first human, Malakar to Scar, 'How do you plan on combatting chaos?", how enigmatic, hehe"
The Soul Records looked at Scar, then spoke up with a smile on her face "well, what is your response to that?"
Scar, spoke into her microphone in a neutral tone, which carried a hint of omission "Well, if we tell you now, then what fun would that be…", she stared towards the enemy team, who is sat adjacent to them, smiled, then continued, "…I'm sure the day maids would also be upset if we revealed something as important as that."
Malakar and some of the other primordial who were quite active in Quinlan's personal life smiled at that, satisfied with that answer. However, most of the audience did not feel any of that same satisfaction, for their faces were filled with confusion and puzzlement.
…
The press conference continued in the same manner. Questions were posed and answered. Sometimes the questions caused tension to arise, be it from the participants, the audience, or both, but then again, most questions flew by like a breeze.
The press conference eventually wrapped up, giving way to the main event that followed.
+~~~+
End of chapter 3