It would have been an idyllic day in the Forest of Wind if it weren't for the rowdy group that insisted on stomping across every single Tengu's nest.As it was, all of the group's members were panting slightly as a Tengu screeched weakly and died—they had learned that defeating a Tengu took extraordinary speed, and even the fastest of them had been forced to step up their pace.
Anastasia sat on a rock as she caught her breath. In her hand she clutched the healing supplies and crests that she was responsible for; on her back she carried some few personal belongings. One of them she had just received earlier that day, but it was already more precious than anything else she was carrying with her. Saki had given her a pretty kimono with autumn leaves on it and told her that she was Kurando's fiancée now. The princess had contrived to tuck it away without anyone else noticing…Kurando had to be the first one to find out, and she had to figure out the perfect way to tell him. Of course, the perfect way would be one that would end with a kiss, Anastasia thought and giggled.
"Beware, evildoers…the day of reckoning is here!"
Anastasia's ears perked up. With her comrades, the day of reckoning came quite often, but it was exciting every time. "Does that mean…?"
"Yes!" Joachim shouted as he rooted through his knapsack. "The Great—Hatena—is—here?" He turned the knapsack upside down, sending its contents tumbling over the ground. Blanca barked after the pedometer clunked him. "Where is it?"
"What's the matter?" Kurando asked Anastasia, eyeing the vampire's frenzy.
"I think he lost his mask," the princess explained.
Joachim froze and looked at her, his blue eyes wide. "L-lost?" This thought had not yet occurred to the wrestler, but now that the insidious seed had been planted, it took root and grew. If the Mask had been lost, never again would his alter ego, the Great Hatena, be seen! Horrors! Villains and evildoers would go unpunished! Truth and justice would be degraded! Children across the world would never know the beauty of a rippling bicep! But…most terrifying of all…what things Teacher would do to him as punishment for losing the Mask…
It was too much for the poor vampire. He sucked in a lungful of air, trying to calm down, but it did no good. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—"
Anastasia clapped her hands over her ears as Joachim's scream drowned out every other sound in the forest. Blanca whimpered and buried his head under his paws.
"—OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—"
Yuri, Karin, Gepetto and Lucia finally turned around, realizing something was wrong; in fact, Yuri tried to ask what the matter was, but no one heard him.
"—OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—" The scream came to a halt when Kurando punched Joachim in the head, effectively shutting him up.
"Thank you God," Yuri muttered, swabbing his eardrum with his finger. With his luck, he'd not only be an amnesiac, he'd be a deaf amnesiac. "What's up with him?"
"He's lost his mask," Kurando answered. Absentmindedly he rubbed at his knuckles; punching the vampire's skull had hurt.
"Thank you, God!"
"Yuri, it's not funny," Anastasia told him. "He's really upset!"
"Oh, I hadn't noticed," drawled the fighter.
Lucia ignored the two, placing one nail on her lips in consideration. "Well," she said finally, "why don't you retrace your steps? That's what Carla always tells me. Where did you have it last?"
Joachim shook his head. "I—I don't remember…"
"If I recall," Gepetto said, stroking his beard in consideration, "you were last wearing it in the Dog shrine yesterday. But then we had to reset the tiles."
"Well, it's gone then, isn't it?" said Yuri. "You take out the tile, you destroy the room."
Joachim looked so stricken that Karin elbowed Yuri.
"Will you show some tact?"
"I'm just saying…"
Kurando shook his head. "Maybe not. Let's go back and check, what do you say, Joa—Joachim?"
"Destroyed…" the vampire muttered, rocking back and forth with his knees curled up to his chest. The others watched him in silence.
"All right," Kurando said finally, "I'll go back, then."
Anastasia's hand flew up in the air. "I'll go with Kurando!"
At this Joachim grabbed her around the waist and sobbed, "No, don't leave me!"
"Joachim, let go!" Anastasia kicked behind her, hoping to hit him in the sensitive spot but connecting with his thigh instead. When he didn't let go she tried again, and again, and again.
"Well, I'm staying here," Yuri said. "I hate that shrine maze thing."
"I'll stay too," said Karin. "That way we have a full team if any monsters come along."
Gepetto nodded. "That sounds sensible."
"Wait a second!" Anastasia said. "I want to go back to the dog shrine!" Joachim wailed louder, undeterred by all kicking.
"I don't think that'll work out, Ana," Karin said, worried about the prospect of babysitting an oversized baby in a temper tantrum.
"But—!"
Kurando interrupted her. "I'm sorry, Lady Anastasia, but I think Karin is right. Joachim needs someone to comfort him. I believe you'll be able to do that."
"Awroo, awroo!" Blanca barked, and Yuri snickered, but Anastasia's eyes were suddenly shining.
"Yes, I will! I'll do it, Kurando, I'm good at comforting people! Tee hee…maybe I'll show you someday…oh, I can't believe I just said that!" Her cheeks flamed a bright red and she swayed, as best as she could with a wrestler twice her size holding her about the waist.
"Hah…ah…that's good, Lady Anastasia," Kurando answered, wondering if she had meant what he thought she meant or if he had listened to his cousin too much. "We'll, ah, we'll just be going now."
When he left, Gepetto, Lucia and Blanca followed him. Joachim finally let go of Anastasia, satisfied that she wouldn't leave, and it was at precisely that instant that she turned around and kicked him in the groin, making him go facedown in the dirt.
Yuri laughed. "Yeah, you're a good comforter, Ana."
"Hmph! I wanted to go with Kurando."
"Now Ana, we know you like him, but—"
The princess looked at Karin with narrowed eyes. "I know you're happy you got to stay with Yuri, so don't lecture me."
Karin turned red and Yuri started reconsidering whether the Dog shrine was really worse than two love-struck, bickering girls. Not to mention he also had to deal with Joachim, who had wisely moved away from Anastasia and her radius of kicking. The vampire was now sulking under a large tree, and Yuri decided to give him a good talking-to.
"Joachim, why do you need that stupid mask anyways?"
"Because it makes me stronger," he responded, as if explaining two plus two. "And it keeps my identity secret."
"I'm sure all the monsters we've killed are straining their brains to figure out who you are," Yuri said dryly. "And it's a dumb old mask. It doesn't even have any magic in it. It can't make you stronger."
"But it does!" Joachim groaned and hung his head. "Ana understands…"
"Yeah, well she's also got a shrine to Kurando. That says it all."
"You're just upset that she doesn't like you."
Yuri's mouth twisted into a scowl. "Right. First of all, me and Gep make one joke about sex in her earshot, and she thinks we're both pervs. Second of all, you're mental if you think I care about her opinion. You're mental anyways, the way you carry on about that mask."
"It's the key to unlocking my strength!"
"Right. Mental." And with that Yuri walked away, leaving Joachim just as depressed as ever.
Karin and Anastasia were still bickering, now over whether Anastasia was entering the rebellious stage of adolescence. Karin held it was all hormones and she'd better keep it under control, while Anastasia insisted she'd been born a rebel and she'd do how she pleased. This kind of behavior was exactly why Yuri had wanted to just find Kato, kick his butt, and get it over with; he had learned in his last adventure that people tended to go loopy in the final stretch—and everyone here had started off loopy. But he'd been outvoted six to two, with only the wolf supporting him, which just showed who the sane one was, and so much for mankind being the superior race.
"Karin, let's make lunch," Yuri suggested. He was perfectly willing to take on love-struck girl if it meant they'd stop bickering.
"Oh? All right." And as easily as that, the argument was ended, with Karin preparing the fire to heat some food.
Anastasia snorted and crossed her arms, still peeved that Karin had gotten to stay with her crush while she had not. She looked at the cause of her unhappiness, who was also sulking. She knew very well that the mask was important to him, and that it made him stronger because he believed it would. Well, wouldn't the problem be fixed if he could be convinced that another mask would make him as strong as his old one?
But where could they get another mask? Anastasia suddenly remembered they didn't need to. They still hadn't found a person willing to take the Ogre mask that the little girl in the Fort of Regrets had given them. Maybe Joachim could be the one to take it. All she needed was a good sales pitch to convince the wrestler.
Five minutes later, she was crouching in front of Joachim as she held the mask behind her back. "Hey. I have something to cheer you up," she said, giving him her biggest smile.
"Is it my mask?"
"Even better. I've got a new mask for you to use," she explained, pulling out the Ogre mask. "It's ten times as strong as the Great Question ever was!"
Joachim was up on his feet in a flash. "That's a lie!" he bellowed. "Grand Hatena is the greatest superhero of all time!"
"Easy, Joachim!" Anastasia laughed. "Fine, maybe it's not that strong—but think about it! The ferocity of an ogre. It'll make you really powerful!"
"But…that girl said it was evil," the vampire protested.
"It hasn't done anything evil, has it?"
"No…"
"See?" the brunette said triumphantly. "Look, just try it on."
When Joachim hesitated, she pressed it on his face. The vampire readjusted it slightly, but other than that there was no reaction.
Anastasia bit her lip. "Well? Is it making you any stronger?"
"Anastasia! Joachim! Lunch is ready," Karin's voice called.
Joachim sighed gustily. "Maybe it takes a while to work." His voice was strained and Anastasia prayed that she hadn't made him cry. She'd wanted to cheer him up, not make him feel worse. "Can you tell them I'll be coming soon?"
"All right. Don't worry, Joachim, I'm sure Kurando will find your mask." Even though he could be annoying at times, Joachim was a loyal friend, and she felt bad seeing him so upset. He said nothing in response, only sat with the image of a fearsome ogre covering his expression.
Finally the girl left, not knowing what else she could do. There was a sudden, quiet chuckle, and she stopped for a minute. That wasn't how Joachim usually laughed. The princess shrugged it off, thinking that at least he'd found something amusing, and joined Karin and Yuri at the campfire.
"He says he'll eat later," Anastasia told them.
Karin frowned, trying to peer around the princess's legs. "Fine, but what's he doing?"
Anastasia turned to see Joachim picking up several packs of supplies. Though the load would probably have crushed a normal person, the wrestler carried it with ease and disappeared down a side path.
"I don't know." As she sat down, she unslung the bag on her shoulders and set it aside. At the same time she kept the healing items and crests close, knowing that food could very well attract a few monsters.
"Least he's doing something besides sulking," Yuri said.
"But what if he gets attacked?"
"With his lung power? He'll tell us if he needs help."
They sat and ate in quiet for a little while, but after a few minutes Yuri broke the silence and they chatted, miraculously avoiding any arguments. After a while the conversation had gravitated towards when the others would come back and if they'd find the mask and what they'd do if it couldn't be found. Anastasia mentioned her failed attempt to replace the mask.
"Hm, that's too bad he didn't like it," Karin said. "We could've set that girl at peace too. Well, as long as he stayed away."
"Yeah, but he doesn't like it."
"Oh, but I do!"
All heads snapped up as a maniacal cackle filled the air. "Joachim?" Anastasia called, seeing that he was bending the tree branch he was standing on to its breaking point. "What are you doing?" For some reason he had his blanket around him like a cloak.
The vampire jumped down to stand in front of a rock, causing the branch to snap back and release a flurry of green leaves. "My name is not Joachim. It's…the Supreme Ogre!"
"Right. You better be wearing something under that," Yuri said, referring to the disturbing observation that there were several inches of bare skin between Joachim's boots and blanket which should have been covered by his pants.
Joachim laughed and flung aside the blanket. When the others had gathered the courage to open their eyes, they discovered that he was wearing his newest armor: the Rose Bondage. It left most of his chest bare and ended short on his thighs, but at least it covered the essentials.
"That your new superhero costume?" Yuri shook his head. "Can't say much for looks—but man, that smells great," he said suddenly, sniffing the air.
"What do you mean? It smells funny," Anastasia said as Yuri stood.
"Just smells a bit musky, that's all," Karin added, also perplexed as to why Yuri looked so…pleased. His expression was that of a cat which had just found a bag of catnip—and Joachim was the bag. "Yuri, are you feeling all right?"
"Oh, yeah," Yuri answered, before latching onto Joachim and taking in a full breath of the armor's scent. "This stuff is great."
"Joachim, take off that armor. Now." Karin was rather perturbed by the changes it seemed to be causing in Yuri. Anastasia watched as the stupid grin on Yuri's face grew and he nuzzled Joachim's shoulder. The redhead looked very angry with narrow eyes and a deep frown. "Joachim, right this instant."
"We need to cover our eyes first," Anastasia pointed out, stifling a giggle. While the whole thing was rather odd, she was getting a kick out of seeing that idiotic expression on Yuri's face. If Karin didn't stop things in time, she was certain the fighter would do something embarrassing, and she still had a few pictures left on her camera.
Joachim simply laughed, not one of his deep chest laughs, but a cackle that sounded rather strange coming from behind the mask. "I am not Joachim. I already told you, I am—"
"Supreme Ogre-sama," Yuri purred, now completely settled on Joachim, with his legs wrapped around the wrestler's waist and his arms hooked around Joachim's thick neck.
The wrestler was silent for a moment. Then, with a yell, he snapped his body back, forming an arch. Still holding on, Yuri was struck by both the rock below and Joachim's head. As Karin and Anastasia watched in horror, Yuri slipped off Joachim, unconscious, and the vampire returned to a standing position.
"Joachim!" Karin bellowed.
"Joachim, what on earth are you doing?" Anastasia yelled. "That's not something a superhero should do!"
"But I am a super villain," he boasted. "I am the Supreme Ogre! For years I was trapped within the mask, but then you, little girl, gave me this body!"
Karin turned to Anastasia, one eyebrow raised. "Would you translate that into something sane?"
"Joachim thought the mask was evil. I told him it wasn't, but I didn't convince him and I made him wear it so now he's evil!" Anastasia wailed, so worked up that she didn't care about the remark of 'little girl'.
"Because…he thought it'd make him evil?" When Anastasia nodded, Karin shook her head in disgust. "Superhero, super villain…super stupid. This mask game needs to stop—where'd he go?"
They both looked around, but the only person they saw was Yuri, sprawled out on the ground. Then Karin looked up and saw a figure eclipsing the sun.
"Mein Gott!" Karin shouted, bracing herself by throwing her arms over her head. Not that it made much difference when a hundred and ninety pounds of pure muscle crashed down on her.
"Eeeeee," Anastasia squeaked as Joachim stood. On the forest floor Karin moaned, still conscious but not about to stand. The petite princess was now shaking, knowing very well that if Joachim used Artem Buster on her too, she'd be flattened. So when Joachim turned to her and she saw the evil ogre's face, Anastasia screamed and ran.
A sharp cackle filled the air. "Run all you want, little girl. You cannot hide from—the Supreme Ogre!" As he bragged, Anastasia sprinted down the path towards Inugami village. When she heard the heavy fall of boots she fumbled through her crests. She needed something simple to cast—it didn't have to injure the vampire, just delay him.
"Take this!" she yelled and wheeled about to face him. "Evil Ray!"
The dark energy barely slowed him down and he cackled again. His laughter was starting to make her skin crawl. She threw the crest back in her bag and ran, rooting for another one.
"Air class, air class—Earth Rot!" she gasped, not bothering to turn around. Earth magic wouldn't have much of an effect on him. He was almost upon her when she finally pulled out the desired crest. "Gale!"
The spell quickened her limbs just as Joachim lunged forward to grab her. He ended up facedown in the dirt while she ran on. Ahead was the village, Saki could help her…and then Anastasia came to a halt, realizing: there were a lot of other people in the village—what if Joachim hurt them? Even worse, what if he got their assistance; the Magimel brothers were there and she could see them being easily swayed by the strange armor Joachim was wearing.
Anastasia turned back and saw Joachim standing up. "Hey, ugly!" she shouted, hoping the taunt would make him pursue. "Can't catch me!"
The wrestler bellowed in anger, but Anastasia was already fleeing, this time off the path and into the thicket. She headed away from the village, back towards where Yuri and Karin were. If Karin had recovered from Artem Buster and they could wake up Yuri up—no, Yuri would be useless anyways unless they could pinch his nose shut.
The girl felt herself slowing down and glanced down at the crest clutched in her hand. Her foot snagged on a tree root and she fell down a gentle slope, coming to a stop in a cluster of bushes. Without a second thought she crawled into them and, when she heard Joachim's footsteps, curled up as small as she possibly could. His leather boots moved into view and she held her breath. Then he guffawed and Anastasia wondered how big a rock she should throw at him, stopping when she remembered he was twice her size.
"Cower in fear, little girl! Now that I have the body of Grand Hatena, no one can save you!"
Even when he was evil he liked to boast about himself. The Russian princess rolled her eyes but made no more movement until his boots had disappeared and she was sure he was gone. Then she tried to think of what she should do.
Joachim had to be stopped before he could hurt anyone, but the mask seemed to have made him stronger than ever—her crest magic had barely touched him! Now she regretted telling him it'd make him ten times stronger…but he hadn't seemed ten times stronger. His belief in the mask could increase his strength, but his body had to have a limit.
Still, that limit was way beyond her. There was no way she could sneak up on him and take the mask off, either, not with it right on his face. Would he take it off? He could remain as Grand Hatena for only a day, less if he used up lots of energy (which he usually did), but it was still too long to just let him run around as an overpowered super villain. So she'd have to get the others—but that was a problem in two ways: Yuri would roam free for a few hours, putting Karin and Yuri in danger, and Kurando and Gepetto might both be seduced by the Rose Bondage. She really did not want to see that happen.
So her only option was to go back to the campsite, heal Karin if she needed it (if she really really needed it, the brunette amended, remembering Karin's lecture), and battle against a wrestling vampire who believed he'd been turned evil by the mask he wore.
She really wished she could have gone to the Dog shrine. With a sigh she stood and brushed her dress off before creeping back to the campsite.
There it became obvious her plan would not work out. Anastasia saw Joachim sitting next to the fire and quickly ducked behind a tree. Peeking out she could see that Joachim had tied both Yuri and Karin. The swordswoman looked very tired, dark bruises running all along her body. Yuri had woken up and was entranced by the Rose Bondage again. Unfortunately, with Joachim facing them, there was no way to untie them without getting flattened. Time for a new plan, but the only option left was to…fight an evil vampire-wrestler herself. What was she supposed to do with him so strong?
If she made him believe he was weaker, maybe she'd have a chance. But with nothing to oppose him, what could shake his confidence?
Finally inspiration came and Anastasia brought out a crest. Eyeing a tree ten meters away, she whispered, "Gale Spin." The ruckus of the winds shredding the tree caused Joachim to go check its cause. While he was away, Anastasia scrambled to bag she'd taken off her back while eating.
"Ana!" Karin whispered, noticing her. "Ana, untie me!"
Anastasia found in her pack the kimono Saki had given her, along with boots and ribbons, before running over to the tree where Karin sat. She fumbled with the strong knot for a few seconds before flinging up his hands. "He tied it too tight!"
"Then cut it. My sword's over there," Karin said, nodding to where she had sat for lunch, on the opposite side of the fire. But the young girl was listening to a new sound, one of twigs crunching and breaking.
"I can't, he's coming back!"
"Ana, come on!"
Anastasia shook her head and Karin's mouth opened wide. Afraid the woman would shout and give her away, Anastasia flung her egg and dove into the bushes. Once her egg returned, she looked to see Karin unconscious and Joachim just returning to the campsite. She wondered if she'd be able to worm her way out of a Sonnestark, or if she had escaped flattening only to be burnt to a crisp later.
It was too late to be worried about that though. She just hoped her plan would actually work. She crept away for a few minutes before figuring she'd made a good distance and sat down to change.
If Joachim was a super villain, then she would become a superhero. It was difficult without a mask, but maybe if she changed her appearance enough it would fool the vampire. Only Saki had seen her in the kimono, and that was because she wanted to make sure she knew how to wear it properly.
Anastasia threw her hat, coat and dress on branches, making sure to remember the spot so she could come back for them. Hopefully none of those stupid Tengu would come through in the meantime.
She traded her white boots for brown and the blue ribbons for purple. Knowing this was as much as she could change her appearance, short of nicking Cornelia's dresses (and she really hoped she was too developed for the doll's clothing), Anastasia was satisfied. On her way back to the campsite, she brainstormed what a superhero should do when facing a super villain. It wasn't too hard; she'd watched Joachim face off with villains and super villains dozens of times.
There was a rough idea sketched out in her head when she reached the campsite, so she decided to simply go ahead and do it before Joachim decided to do another evil deed. Right as Joachim began eyeing Yuri in a rather creepy manner, Anastasia jumped onto a rock, so at least she could be eye level with the wrestler, and shouted, "Stop right there, evildoer!"
He stopped automatically, as his eye contact with Yuri had been broken so he could see who this new presence was. Anastasia put on a cocky grin which hid just how terrified she was of being squished and pointed a finger at him. "Your wicked deeds end here!"
Though Joachim had seemed surprised at first, he quickly recovered and laughed. "Brave words from a little girl."
He wasn't intimidated at all. She'd have to step it up a notch.
"Little girl? I'll have you know my name is—" Oh, dear God, she couldn't say Anastasia, why hadn't she made up a name—"Sailor Russia! And in—"
"'Sailor Russia'?"
Anastasia was flustered by the interruption and snapped, "Like 'Supreme Ogre' is any better!"
"Mine makes sense. You don't look like a sailor."
"Logic means nothing to the devoted heart!" she declared, hoping he'd shut up and drop the name issue. "I am a champion of truth, justice, and love! And in the name of the Czar, I will punish you!" she ended dramatically, once again stabbing the air at him.
He seemed to be taking her a bit more seriously, but his finger scratched the mask's cheek as he asked, "Don't I know you from somewhere?"
"Of course—of course not!" she answered, fighting down a nervous laugh. If Joachim realized now she was the same old Ana, he'd flatten her in an instant. "Even if you had met me, the powers of light and truth protect my identity from all villains!"
"Oh," said Joachim. "Must be thinking of someone else then."
On one hand, Anastasia was glad she wasn't in danger of flattening. On the other hand, it was worrying to know just how stupid the wrestler was. But without giving him a chance to say anything else, Anastasia whipped out her camera, which was already prepped for a shot.
"Now taste your punishment," she shouted, snapping a picture of him. This was not so much for the photo—her album was pretty full-up anyways—but for the flash which accompanied it. Hopefully it would blind him long enough for her to get an advantage.
"AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Anastasia started at the scream, nearly dropping her camera.
"My eyes! I'm blind!"
Oh. That was just the success of her plan. Yet, the vampire seemed in such pain that Anastasia hesitated…
"They're ruined! Oh, the agony! It burns!"
…and then realized Joachim was just hamming it up like usual, and flung the egg at his head. With his thick skull it took a few hits, but finally the Supreme Ogre was felled.
Anastasia scrambled down from the rock. The very first thing she did was take the ogre mask off his face, to make sure Joachim wouldn't rouse and put her in a chokehold. Then she checked to see if he was all right—which he was, though he'd probably have a headache when he woke up.
"What did you do to Supreme Ogre-sama?"
Anastasia's head whipped up. She'd nearly forgotten that something had to be done about the armor. Fortunately a love-sick Yuri, who was straining at the ropes as if to get revenge for his Ogre-sama, had reminded her. She scanned the campsite, ignoring Yuri's curses and threats but keeping an ear out in case he did get loose. She'd just found the purple blanket that Joachim had been using when she heard the sound of every rope snapping at once.
The princess turned and screamed, dropping the blanket. Amon, whose full power had recently been unleashed and coursed across its body in red and yellow veins, Amon was lumbering towards her. She backed up, raising hands that quivered with fright. "Yuri," she pleaded, "Stop. Please."
Surprisingly, he did. The demon god just sat there, almost looking…puzzled. It took Anastasia a minute, but she figured it out—Yuri had fused into Amon because he was angry, but if Yuri's sudden loves-struck behavior had been caused by the armor's scent, his fusion must have cleared it away because it had a different sense of smell.
"Yuri, stay like that for a minute, okay?" she said. "Don't turn human, I think you'll go nuts again." With that she picked up the blanket, walked to Joachim's side (edging a bit away from Amon, in case she was wrong and Amon could go nuts from the smell as well), and covered him up. The blanket had been enough to prevent Yuri from smelling the armor in the first place, so the blanket should be enough now. "Now you can change back," she told the harmonixer.
He did, looking incredibly puzzled. Then he swore. "Damn, I actually did that?"
Anastasia snickered and found herself being hoisted off her feet, staring into blood red eyes. She smiled shakily. "I won't tell anyone about this?" she offered, and was lowered back down.
"Better not," Yuri growled with a reproachful glance at Joachim. "God, I can't believe Keith actually gave him that. That is one sick practical joke."
"Lady Anastasia!"
The girl started at the voice and turned around. Kurando and the others were walking towards them, and in his hands the samurai carried the curious question mark-shaped mask. Anastasia beamed—and then she realized she was wearing the kimono. Her smile turned into a scowl so abruptly that Kurando might have asked what was wrong, if he'd been looking at her. Instead, Gepetto, Lucia, Blanca and he stared first at the unconscious wrestler on the ground—they might have thought he was taking one of his naps if it hadn't been the large bruise on his forehead—and then at Karin, who had slumped down from the tree when the ropes broke and lay in an awkward position.
"Did something happen?" Lucia asked with a small frown, bending over for a closer look at Joachim.
"Something happened, all right." Yuri shook his head. "I don't know why Joachim was acting so weird."
"The ogre mask made him act evil. Or, you know, he thought it'd make him act evil, it's all the same with Joachim," Anastasia explained.
Kurando raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "You mean Joachim was the one to hurt Karin?" he asked the princess. "How could a mask…" then he trailed off, his eyes dropping from her face to the clothes she wore. Anastasia squirmed, tugging at the hem of the kimono. "Lady Anastasia…that looks remarkably like…is it…?"
"Uh, yeah," she muttered, her cheeks burning. "We're engaged."
He said nothing and Anastasia's stomach sank. She'd wanted the announcement to be perfect, and now she wasn't even sure he wanted the engagement. But as she gazed up at him, a smile appeared on his face. Her heart beat fast with hope; he was happy about it, he'd just been surprised. It hadn't been the best way to tell him, but it was good enough. His grin widened and the princess wondered why he didn't smile like that more often. He looked so adorable.
Then Anastasia noticed that Gepetto also had a wide grin. She glanced over to where Joachim lay. "Lucia, put the blanket back on!" she screeched. But it was too late; the fortuneteller only looked clueless as Yuri pounced on the unconscious vampire, the stupid grin plastered on his face once more. Kurando was also moving towards the vampire. Anastasia threw herself at the young man, managing to catch him around the legs and bring both of them tumbling to the ground. She certainly wasn't going to let him end up like his cousin.
Author's Note: Yeah, a little weird I know. I wrote this because I was slightly disappointed with the game not using the Rose Bondage's unique trait, even in gameplay (hey, you'd think that if it makes guys hopelessly attracted to the wearer, all the men's affinities with Joachim would shoot through the roof). I also wanted to play around a bit with the idea of why a mask would suddenly make Joachim stronger. And this was the result.