These Easter Eggs Have Money In Them Right?

Here we go again. Another festival. In Magnolia Town no less. Those two together generally meant nothing to most people. Well, maybe it meant fun and joy or something positive that could be turned into some motivational cheer of goodwill, sunshine, and rainbows. For Aliarey, it was terrifying. It brought on the memories of that Christmas festival that turned weird the last time the blonde visited Magnolia Town during some fun time social gettogether. It had to have been some weird fluke though. Aliarey liked Magnolia Town in general. That was why she was even there again. During a festival. It was worth the risk, right? Surely nothing weird could happen with egg painting and four-leaf clover hunts. The same thing could have been said for the Christmas festival of the past really, but the requip mage was ready to not think about it too much and just forget that detail. This time things would go great. It'd be awesome. It'd be normal. Or as normal as things could be when living in a world of magic.

As has become habitual and routine, Aliarey had contacted Diana to hang out. It was a good excuse. It had been a while since they last saw each other and festivals seemed to bring the two together since for some reason the both of them never had anything else planned. Shocking as that was in current days. The Ishgar Symposium was the last time they did anything together and that ended up being a complete waste of effort that would have taken their lives if they hadn't been lucky enough to finish their job and got out of Felidae City before it... evaporated? Aliarey didn't know what to call it. It was depressing keeping up with all of that and Aliarey didn't like anything depressing.

She and Diana hadn't really talked all that much since then. The continent, after all, was changing. There was a war going on. Aliarey didn't know much about what Diana was doing about it, but as for herself, she was staying far away from it. The money that could be made sounded good and all, but facing off against Pergrande was not something she was taking lightly. The worst of the worst monsters sounded like safer opponents than that country and their oblivium. If things got too bad Aliarey and her family already had plans to bail. For now though, Fiore was still pretty safe and the day-to-day life was pretty much the same. A cheery spring festival going on was proof of that. Some people might have viewed it as silly to have such laidback fun when there were major things going on a few countries over that could inevitably reach Fiore, but those people could go run into the nearest volcano as far as Aliarey was concerned. She wanted at least one more laidback event with Diana before things got worse or she left entirely. If she were lucky, there'd be even more down the road because the war didn't reach home. It was probably best to assume that her times of luck were rare. The whole Felidae incident probably took what was left for her entire life. Oh well.

Aliarey sat on one of the park benches waiting for Diana to show up. Normally she would have entertained herself by participating in one of the activities while waiting, but this time she just figured she'd wait on her friend for once. Besides, listening to the music playing on her iLac was good enough. With her earphones in she couldn't hear much of anything else, which worked well to drown out the annoying combination of noises from the festival. It'd be easy enough for Diana to find her even if she was a bit distracted while jamming to her music. Aliarey would be wearing a different outfit than usual, but it was pretty similar and still allowed her to be recognizable from the rest of the crowd.

(Word Count: 660)

Wearing her usual outfit of purple t-shirt, black pleated skirt with pockets, white thigh-high stockings, and black tennis shoes, Diana's outfit was not the height of fashion, but no one around here seemed to notice or care about that. They were too busy participating in the Spring Festival with friends and family to notice an ordinary green-eyed blonde wearing the same casual outfit everywhere she went. That was good because today Diana was not concerned about looking stylish. Diana was here to participate in the festival with her fellow Guildless mage and fellow blonde Aliarey Casady.

In the past they tended to meet up by chance, but this time Aliarey had decided to facilitate their meeting by calling Diana via iLac and asking to meet up at the Spring Festival in Magnolia Town. Diana, having nothing important to do and not particularly interested in looking for a job today, readily accepted the invitation from her friend. She had walked all the way to Magnolia Town from Capital Crocus... after a long but uneventful walk she was in town looking for the blue-eyed blonde. Diana was not sure where exactly Aliarey could be found, so she would look all around the town. She was certain she would find the blue-eyed blonde soon... fate had an odd way of bringing them together.

-Thirty minutes later-

Diana had been looking for her friend for a half-hour and had not spotted Aliarey just yet, so the blonde stopped next to a park bench to catch her breath. When she stopped to the right of it she happened to glance left and spotted a young blonde woman seated on the bench who was wearing earphones. Diana looked closely at her and noticed a few things.

The seated young woman had long blonde hair that was the same length as Aliarey's. She also had blue eyes that were the same color as Aliarey's. Furthermore, she was even wearing an outfit with the same basic colors but a few noticeable differences from Aliarey's ordinary outfit such as the skirt length and the style of boots. For the final touch the magic signature coming from the person and noted how similar it was to Aliarey's.

When all of those similarities were put together, there was a very good chance that Diana had just found her friend.

Diana stepped in front of Aliarey and waved at her to catch her attention.

"Hello, Aliarey." Diana greeted Aliarey in her usual calm manner. Diana wondered what kind of music the blue-eyed blonde was listening to. Diana had no idea about her friend's musical tastes because she had never bothered to ask that kind of question before, but she would ask that question today, if only out of idle curiosity.

[Post Word Count: 458]
[Diana's Word Count: 458/2,000]
[Total Word Count: 1,118/4,000]

There might have been a point where a certain thought had crossed the mind of Aliarey. that certain thought being the question of what was taking Diana so long? It was a very forgettable moment. So distracted was the blue-eyed blonde with the musical tones coming through her earphones that the question came and went within the same ten seconds of time. She closed her eyes and swayed in her seat, moving with the beats and rhythms. Only the pauses of a track change caused her to stop and tune back into the real world momentarily. It was a few seconds after one of these moments that Aliarey realized Diana was standing right there.

The next song had begun to play. The beginning was soft and low enough that the sounds from the festival could get through. It was then that Aliarey had heard her name. The voice she couldn't place by sound due to the music, but she could clearly tell that it was from a young woman. Aliarey opened her eyes and recognized who it was immediately by sight. Diana's appearance never did seem to change. That was good. It made spotting her super easy!

"Hey!" Aliarey greeted her friend, a wide grin having quickly formed on her face. She grabbed onto the wire that connected the iLac to her earphones and pulled down to pop the earphones out of place. "About time you got here. Did you get lost?" Aliarey jokingly asked before looking down at her iLac and turning off the music entirely. She wrapped the earphone wires around it and then poof; the small device vanished into thin air, having been transported to the storage dimension that was normally connected to her weapons, or should have been, but was more like a glorified closet for anything and everything.

With that out of the way, Aliarey stood up from her place on the bench, still smiling. It was nice seeing an old friend, especially when they were the only actual friend worth taking the time and effort to keep. It was almost enough to lunge forward and give the other woman a giant hug. If only Aliarey were the type that hugged people. Keeping her own personal space intact, and thereby keeping Diana's personal space in consideration, would have to do. "Glad you could make it though. It feels like a century has passed since the last one of these festival things. Ready to check it out?"

(Word Count: 411
Aliarey Total: 1071
Thread Total: 1529)

Diana watched Aliarey sit on the bench and move along to whatever music she was listening to while wondering if the blue-eyed blonde would ever see the purple-clad blonde standing in front of her. Eventually Aliarey did see Diana and greeted her before inquiring about the green-eyed blonde's navigational ability. Diana was not offended by what was clearly a joke and gave her usual small smile to the blue-eyed blonde. Aliarey was one of the few people in this world that Diana cared about to any great extent, so Diana was inclined to take Aliarey's jokes in stride as opposed to feeling slightly insulted... not that anyone would know if the green-eyed blonde ever felt insulted because she tended to keep her feelings to herself, especially negative ones.

"I traveled here from Capital Crocus, so it took me awhile to get here." Diana calmly explained the reason for her taking so long to get to Magnolia Town, making sure to sound calm so that it did not sound like she took Aliarey's remark as an insult. Diana could have gotten here a lot faster if she had teleported to the town outskirts instead of walking, but the green-eyed blonde preferred to keep the ability to teleport a secret for a bit longer. She was only going to a festival, after all. Nothing important was at stake and there was plenty of time in which to participate in the festival, so she had gotten away with taking the scenic route with little more than a joke for her trouble.

Once Aliarey had put away the device she was using for listening to music she soon got to her feet. Diana was tempted to ask about the music her friend listened to but then decided against it. Diana cared about such things only up to a point and right now she was more interested in the festival than in her friend's taste in music. Speaking of the festival, she had a ready answer to Aliarey's question.

"I am ready to get going whenever you are, Aliarey." Diana said to her friend. Diana had no burning need to be "in charge" of anything, so like always she was content to stand back and let Aliarey dictate the pace at which they moved. Maybe that would change one day and she would take a little more initiative, perhaps even actually speak up without being asked to do so, but for now Diana was satisfied with the status quo when it came to how the pair approached festivals.

[Post Word Count: 424]
[Diana's Word Count: 882/2,000]
[Total Word Count: 1,953/4,000]

"Crocus, huh? That is pretty far. Must have been a train delay or something, huh?" That was the first explanation that came across Alia's head. She couldn't imagine anyone walking all the way from there to Magnolia. That was a track she herself wouldn't even touch. The amount of time would have taken... well a long time. That'd allow way too much time for her to think, which was quite the horrible past time. Besides, why walk when a train was there? Unless the ticket was too expensive but then there was always sneaking onboard. "Well, you're forgiven!" Her comment was once again in jest. She didn't really care that Diana was a bit late. It wasn't as if she was waiting too long or left to entertain herself the whole day.

"Alrighty then! I have one of those flier things that lists everything that's going on around here buuuuttt there's something I have to do first. There's no talking me out of it! No ifs, ands, or buts. It's tradition that all must participate in it. Especially me!" Aliarey paused to add a little suspense before she revealed the first suggested activity on the list. She stared at Diana with the most serious expression she could. As if this one event was a matter of life or death. "We're going Easter Egg Hunting." Yes. That very activity where kids and adults alike searched everywhere for the colorful eggs that had been hidden away by the event coordinators. Aliarey did not intend to miss it. It was the highlight of the festival. The one thing people expected. It was tradition! That and Aliarey knew those eggs usually had candy inside them. Sometimes even money. Maybe Diana would get enough to afford a train ticket for next time. There was hope!

"So how about it? You up for the hunt?"

(Word Count: 309
Aliarey Total: 1380
Thread Total: 2262)

Diana decided to let the matter drop once Aliarey had granted her forgiveness for being late. Had Diana told Aliarey that she had actually walked all the way here there was no telling how the blue-eyed blonde would react to that news. The green-eyed blonde decided to move on and focus on what she was being told next, which was something of considerable importance to Aliarey considering how long she talked about it and the serious facial expression she maintained throughout the talk. Diana waited and listened to hear what was so special to Aliarey that it merited such a long discussion and soon got her answer.

It was an Easter Egg Hunt.

"An Easter Egg Hunt, huh?" Diana casually inquired in a calm tone of voice. She was mildly amused that all of the effort Aliarey had put into the announcement was for an Easter Egg Hunt... whatever that was. Diana could not recall ever participating in one when she was a child, but there was a lot about her childhood that she would rather forget. She returned to the present and gave her verdict... not that it was ever really in doubt.

"I am willing to participate in it." Diana replied. Since she had not stated any preference when it came to activities earlier, she did not mind doing the Easter Egg Hunt. If that activity really meant that much to Aliarey, who was Diana to stand in the way of her friend's happiness?

[Post Word Count: 246]
[Diana's Word Count: 1,128]
[Total Word Count: 2,508/4,000]

Rolling for the Egg Hunt...

The member 'Aliarey Casady' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Normal Dice' :

"Awesome!" Aliarey leaped in the air excitedly. There was no containing it. The whole egg hunting tradition was something she had always enjoyed doing since she was a child. It might have been a bit silly to do it as an adult, but getting to participate in a larger one set up by the community was always a thrill. Used to it was usually just a smaller one set up by her adoptive quirky father for her siblings and herself. Man, those were great days. Unfortunately, the community ones played by safer rules so there'd be no obstacles, or lasers, or explosions, or gunfire, or anything else that could be considered not safe for children or adults alike, but it was still fun for sure.

"I'll let you decide on the next activity once we're done with this one. Promise!" Now it was time to get to that grand egg hunting event. Naturally, the blonde had already located where it was the be held earlier. It was the first thing she did when she reached the festival grounds. The only thing she did besides grab and read a flyer that listed the other stuff, and of course, wait for Diana to get there. "Let's go!" Aliarey sped off, moving through the crowd in such a way that Diana could pick up that Alia actually knew where she was going. It wasn't too far from where they were. Away from the streets and other events, the egg hunt was set up in a nearby park area. Only the most traditional of locations for a very traditional event.

A signup booth was set up in front of the park. The line wasn't long at all since sign-up was pretty easy. Just pick the age group and grab a basket. Aliarey did just that. There was also time to ask questions about how the whole egg hunt worked. Of course, having mastered the art of egg hunting over the years, Aliarey had none so she signed herself up and got out of the way.

There were even tables full of decorations offered if anyone wanted to give their basket a little personal flair during the wait. Aliarey chose not to. Decorating a basket wasn't really something she cared for, she just wanted to hunt some eggs. Besides, her bright pink-colored basket was enough of a decoration that stood out. Well, maybe if she added a bow... no, no no! No bows! No fancy girly stuff. The color itself was just because it happened to be the closest basket!

Now that she thought about it the event was a competition. There was no teamwork here. That meant Diana was part of the competition. Drat! She should have tried to get details on Diana's egg hunting experience! What a big mistake to make already! She'd just have to watch out and be prepared to out hunt her newly made friend turned rival. Her eyes scanned the waiting area to check out the rest of the competition.

Most were there just for fun. She could tell by how much fun they were having with the decorating aspect of their baskets and their easy-going chit-chat. There were others though. Their faces screamed they were there for serious business. Egg hunting was fun and all and was something that could also be taken competitively, but damn! Those few looked as if they had just entered the championship finals of an actual major sport.

'And here I thought Diana would be the one to beat,' Alia thought sarcastically as she watched one of those serious competitors prepare themselves by throwing several pretend easter eggs and running to catch them. It was a feat that was achieved easily as the woman zipped around. Another was lifting baskets filled with eggs attached to a pole across their back while they did squats. Was that supposed to be an egg hunt themed weight lifting exercise? The big man purposely dropped the weighted pole, and when he did the ground that was struck broke apart. Each of those eggs were actually real weights instead of the typical plastic stuff. The guy then proceeded to walk over to a pile of baskets that he must have made earlier and put them on as if they were accessories of the latest fashion. More baskets meant more room for eggs, right? And this guy clearly thought he was going to find every single one. Most likely by shaking some trees and destroying everything that might be hiding a hoard of them. Then there was some scientist-looking guy that had a contraption strapped to his back. The thing had mechanic arms that stretched and the mainly huge part on his back looked like it would hold more eggs than any typical easter basket. Aliarey decided not to bother observing the rest too much. What kind of egg hunt did she join? Why was she not allowed to use her guns and bombs for this again? This wasn't going to end well...

"Eeesh, and here I thought my version of egg hunts was going overboard. We're going to need some luck here." Alia told Diana, almost dreadfully. Luck was in such short supply. And, at least for herself, she was right.

The event coordinators made sure everyone was gathered and ready, and then, they unleashed the egg hunters. Everyone was now free to run around and collect as many eggs as they could until the deadline had either hit or all eggs had been collected. Each egg had a magical tracker in it that informed the coordinators when it had been found, so the latter was easy enough to keep track of. With the type of adult egg hunters that were in the competition, the hunt was not stopping until every egg had been found. Not that it mattered for Aliarey. By the time it was all over she didn't get many eggs at all. She had even given up and quit a bit early out of frustration. Those hardcore hunters managed to get nearly all the eggs she could spot before her. Really it was a miracle that she got anything at all. Plenty of times she had half a mind to use her magic or shoot them just a bit to slow them down, but, as tempting as it was, she didn't want to get kicked out of the festival. Damn consequences of actions thing! At least she got some kind of participation egg for competing. It was plastic so it was hardly valuable but participation trophies were always nice. Who knows? Maybe there'd also be something nice inside the eggs she did find.

Aliarey was a bit curious about how Diana fared in her hunt. However, she was also curious as to what was inside her eggs. As she waited for her friend to finish egg hunting the Requip mage started popping each egg open to claim its contents. Most of it being candy so far. Kind of disappointing, but hey, free candy!

(Word Count: 1168
Aliarey Total: 2548
Thread Total: 3676)

Aliarey has collected 1 Small Easter Egg
1/3 Small Easter Eggs collected

Once Diana agreed to the Easter Egg Hunt Aliarey displayed her boundless enthusiasm with a literal jump for joy. Diana listened to Aliarey's promise that the green-eyed blonde would be permitted to choose the next event and did not comment because she did not have time to say anything before Aliarey hurried towards the park. Diana wordlessly followed her longtime companion over to the park where the event was held and quickly signed up for it at the small booth that had set aside for that purpose, then grabbed a purple basket because purple was her favorite color. She then walked briskly to meet up with her companion before the activity started.

Diana met up with Aliarey again and got a look at her soon-to-be competition. Most of the people were casual participants looking to participate in an entertaining activity, but like with any event there were always a few people who took casual activities far too seriously. Diana knew that she tended to be serious all the time, but these people made her look relaxed. After getting the gist of what the serious competitors were all about she turned to Aliarey and listened to the blue-eyed blonde speak.

"I agree with you, Aliarey." Diana replied calmly. In the past she was one of those mages who attributed her success entirely to skill, but after a few experiences where she should have died but somehow managed to survive, Diana was starting to believe in luck. She would rather save it for events other than an Easter Egg Hunt, though. Diana was not sure how much luck she had left and would rather save it for an occasion where she really needed it to get her out of an unpleasant situation where survival did not look likely.

When the participants were gathering for the start of the activity Diana put those thoughts aside and prepared to go along with the others, standing near the back of the group. She tightened her grip on the basket and when the signal to start was given she hurried into the park as fast as she could go despite being near the back. When the serious competitors were among the first participants to get into the park Diana knew that she was going to have a bad time.

-At the end of the event, one hour later-

Diana emerged from the park with her modest haul of six eggs. The serious competitors she had spotted earlier had naturally gotten most of them... her nemesis was a lanky scientist or tech enthusiast sporting a high-tech egg-collecting device of his own creation on his back who seemed like he had made it his mission to thwart Diana. He was always one step ahead of her and had gathered a lot of eggs before Diana could even move towards them, causing her no small amount of irritation. Diana had searched everywhere in the park that could conceivably hide an egg and had managed to grab six for herself that her fellow casual participants had missed; six eggs was as good as it was going to get since the serious competitors were dominating the activity. Since she did not want to quit she stayed in the activity until the hour was up, then received a small plastic Easter Egg for participating in the hunt.

After receiving the participation egg Diana walked over to Aliarey, who was opening her eggs to harvest the candy within. If she had any candy in her eggs Diana was likely going to give it to the blue-eyed blonde since the former did not really care for candy. She had participated in the activity and now knew what an Easter Egg hunt was like, so she was satisfied despite her meager success in collecting eggs.

"Hello, Aliarey." Diana greeted her companion. She wondered what Aliarey would be in the mood to do next. Diana had no idea what she wanted to do next, so if she had to choose the next activity for them to do she was going to have a hard time making a decision.

[Post Word Count: 682]
[Diana's Word Count: 1,810/2,000]
[Total Word Count: 4,358/4,000]

Diana has received one small Easter Egg for participating in the Easter Egg Hunt. She has one out of three eggs needed for event completion.

The last plastic egg had been popped open just as Diana walked up and greeted her. Aliarey took one look inside the egg quickly. Drat. More basic candy. Not even the good stuff. Her eyes rolled at the misfortune, but it was what it was. Her attention left her own egg collection after she nonchalantly tossed the egg pieces and candy back into her Easter basic. "Hey, hey!" One look at Diana's basket was enough to make Aliarey cringe. Her luck at finding some eggs was just as bad if not worse. "Ouch. You didn't get many either, huh? I thought for sure you'd be one of the ones to get a mountain of them." The blonde shook her head. It was a damn shame that they both came out losers, and it was all because of those hardcore egg-collecting weirdos. "Well, at least that's out of my system now," Aliarey said in an attempt to find some kind of silver lining and remain positive. "Let's move on before I get tempted to steal the eggs from those cheaters." Or blow them up. Melt them. Use them for a bit of target practice. Something to get a little revenge in. Best not to let the imagination run wild else she'd end up doing it.

"All right! I did promise that you'd be able to pick the next thing we do. You're up! What will Blonde Ambition be teaming up to do this time?" From posted signs to a variety of announcers, it wouldn't be hard for Diana to find out what all the Spring Festival had to offer. Picking something though was where the challenge was for the indecisive.

(Word Count: 279
Aliarey Total: 2827
Thread Total: 4637)

After Aliarey expressed her great and palpable disappointment at the outcome of the Easter Egg Hunt she honored her promise to let Diana choose the next activity the two blondes would do. Having been granted permission to choose the next activity, Diana set aside her own disappointment over her modest success in the Easter Egg Hunt and began to think over what she and Aliarey could do next. The green-eyed blonde looked around and spotted an advertisement for a "Four-Leaf Clover Hunt." Right away she knew of at least one activity that she would not partake in unless Aliarey showed a strong interest in it.

"I am not very interested in the Four-Leaf Clover Hunt. I am currently not in the mood for any more hunting activities... unless you want to participate in it." Diana informed Aliarey. It likely sounded immature of Diana and implied that she would only participate in activities that she thought she could win, but she was telling Aliarey the truth. The huntress was currently not interested in any more activities that required hunting objects. Besides, she was not looking forward to the possibility of encountering overly competitive four-leaf clover hunters.

Diana looked around her again and spotted several advertisements for activities on white sandwich board signs and on posters attached to walls, but she found no activity so interesting that she felt compelled to participate. She was not keen on the Leprechaun Relay Race nor a Dance Around The Maypole. An Easter Egg Painting activity was something that did not strike her as exciting, but she would not rule out the possibility of doing it if there were no other options. Looking around a second time did not produce any more leads, but listening to festival participants talking as they walked by her gave a lead to an activity that was likely to be of interest to Aliarey.

The name of the activity was Easter Feaster.

"Aliarey, would you be interested in participating in an activity called Easter Feaster?" Diana asked her friend. Diana was definitely interested in it because she had only had a cup or two of coffee this morning. but she also knew from attending the Spirit of Christmas event in Magnolia Town that food was something that appealed to Aliarey. The activity was a good way for Diana to get an actual meal while also fulfilling the obligation to choose their next activity. It also had the benefit of being an activity that Aliarey would likely want to do.

[Post Word Count: 418]
[Diana's Word Count: 2,228/2,000]
[Total Word Count: 5,055/4,000]

Aliarey's eyes widened the moment Diana brought up the Easter Feaster. Honestly, she would have been up for anything but now that the feast had been mentioned that was the only thing that she was going to agree to do. It was the best choice Diana could have picked. Were they on the same mental wavelength? That totally had to be the case. "Heck yes!" The blonde shouted with great enthusiasm. "I could never turn down free food! Unless it's disgusting but this stuff isn't supposed to be. It's supposed to be great!" Aliarey could hardly contain herself. She had been smelling the aroma of the feast dishes for so long now. It had been difficult to ignore up until then but she had managed. Diana opened the door now though so there was no way she could go back to ignoring it. Her stomach was already responding to the anticipation of being filled and she was salivating at the thought of the food reaching her taste buds.

"This is going to be great!" Without another word said Aliarey turned around and rushed off through the crowd. Her intention had been to run towards the Easter Feaster area but she very quickly realized that she had gone the wrong way entirely. Upon that realization, she turned around and ran in the other direction, much to the annoyance of the crowd that had already moved out of the way once already. "Out of the way! Hungry mage on a mission for free food!" Short of the mishap of going the wrong way, nothing was going to stop her from reaching the feast table goal. Had she forgotten about Diana? Well, kind of. The less emotional half of Blonde Ambition could catch up at her own pace.

In no time Aliarey had reached the Easter Feaster. It was a wonder how she had not managed to crash into any of the tables. To normal eyes, she probably didn't look as if she had stopped moving at all. The young woman grabbed a tray and loaded it with empty plates and utensils and then proceeded to run around and load up those plates with a mountain of food. Meats, veggies, side dishes, nothing was safe from her. Once one tray was full she set it on a table that had two seats for herself and Diana and then she rushed off to fill another. She was no stranger when it came to hoarding a good amount of food and stuffing her face in public. Once satisfied with four trays of food, she went off to grab two canned sodas from a nearby iced cooler. Both for herself, of course. Did Diana even drink soda? She had no idea. She wasn't going to worry about it. For now, she would take her seat and dig in. Starting with tray number one.

(Word Count: 477
Aliarey Total: 3304
Thread Total: 5532)

Aliarey's enthusiastic reaction to the idea of participating in the Easter Feaster activity had been anticipated by Diana. The idea was a hit with the blue-eyed blonde and no further convincing was needed. After that Aliarey ran off in the direction of Easter Feaster, leaving Diana to walk in the direction she had spotted her friend moving in. Diana calmly and slowly moved through the crowd, being careful not to bump into anyone as she followed after the excitable Aliarey as carefully as she could considering how crowded the streets were.

-The Easter Feaster area, a few minutes later-

After Diana managed to successfully navigate the crowds without incident she arrived in the festively decorated Easter Feaster area to find that Aliarey had already filled one tray with food and was eagerly heading back to get another. Diana stood near the table and looked at the tray her friend had left behind. Diana was not entirely surprised by the amount of food her friend had claimed for herself, but the green-eyed blonde looked at the loaded tray for a few moments out of curiosity. She wondered how on Earthland Aliarey could eat that much and not feel miserable afterwards.

If Diana ate the amount of food Aliarey had acquired during the latter's first run to the food tables in one sitting she would be absolutely sick.

Diana watched Aliarey return with four trays loaded with more food and sit down. Once Aliarey had been seated and the claim to the table secured Diana calmly walked to the food tables to get her own food. The green-eyed blonde claimed a plate for herself along with some utensils and a napkin, both of which she promptly stuffed into her right skirt pocket. After that she carefully made her way over to a couple of tables. At the first she got two servings of beef stroganoff and at the salad table she prepared a side salad with a small amount of grated parmesan cheese sprinkled on top... for her drink she got a clear plastic cup of plain water.

After putting everything she wanted to eat in her plate Diana walked back over to the table her friend was seated at and took the empty space beside Aliarey.

Diana looked at Aliarey's four loaded trays and briefly compared the sizable hill of food Aliarey had accumulated with her own much more modest plate, then turned her attention back towards her plate. She fished the napkin and utensils out of her right skirt pocket, got them ready for use, and began eating. Diana was content with her modest meal. The reasonable portions of beef stroganoff and salad meant that she would be able to walk around afterwards without feeling ill from overeating.

[Post Word Count: 458]
[Diana's Word Count: 2,686/2,000]
[Total Word Count: 5,990/4,000]

Aliarey could have cried. The food was so good. Although, how she even managed to fully taste anything at the speed she was eating was anyone's guess. The plates became empty one by one. When one tray was finished she moved on to the next. All that would be left were the bones of any meat and the smears of anything else because like hell was she licking the plates clean. She wasn't an animal! Those watching her eat probably could have made an argument for that description though. Even the event coordinators that were going around table to table stared wide-eyed in astonishment. Did that woman know it wasn't an eating contest? Oh, dear. They decided to get out of there fast before they were mistaken for food. Each one dropped off two plastic eggs on the table for both Diana and Aliarey and then quickly moved away from the scene without a word. They certainly were participating in the event so they got the expected reward for doing so. Hopefully the blue-eyed one of the two blondes would be satisfied with the amount of food she was already stuffing into her body and leave the rest for the other guests.

By the time Alia got to tray four it was all starting to hit. Her eating was so fast that her stomach hadn't registered just how much it was taking in. Until right then. Aliarey groaned painfully but slowly kept eating. She couldn't waste any of it! It was too good! Maybe just a bit of a break would help though. The fork in her hand was dropped and she slid the tray away to the side before plopping her head down on the table in misery. "Diana... why did you let me eat so much?" Seriously! Diana could have warned her or something! Not that Aliarey would have listened but that wasn't the point. She was now in overstuffed misery and nothing had been done to stop her from thinking her stupidity was a great idea.

Aliarey has collected 2 Small Easter Eggs
3/3 Small Easter Eggs collected

(Word Count: 340
Aliarey Total: 3644
Thread Total: 6330)

Diana alternated between eating from her plate of beef stroganoff and side salad while Aliarey plowed through her four trays of food with speed that had to be seen to be believed. The speed at which each blonde ate was yet another contrast between the two. While they were eating a pair of people Diana had never seen before but who appeared to be event staff swiftly deposited small plastic Easter Eggs on the table before swiftly departing to continue their work elsewhere. Diana calmly scooped up her two eggs in her right hand and put them in her skirt pocket to join the small Easter Egg gained from the Easter Egg Hunt. Once that was accomplished the green-eyed blonde finished what food she had left.

Some time later Aliarey seemed to have finally hit her limit and bemoaned what she was going through. Diana listened carefully to what was being said and believed that her companion tried to lay some of the blame for her plight at the green-eyed blonde's feet. Diana set her fork down in the plate that used to contain beef stroganoff and made eye contact with her companion before speaking to her.

"I was unaware that I was your keeper, Aliarey." Diana replied calmly to her companion. While somewhat sympathetic to her friend's plight, Diana failed to see where any blame could reasonably be assigned to her. Then again, the whole blame statement might just have been a joke that had soared right over her head because of Diana's difficulty in understanding humor. Whatever the case was Diana finished her cup of water and waited for Aliarey to recover from her predicament... or at least cope with it well enough and long enough to talk to her.

[Post Word Count: 292]
[Diana's Word Count: 2,978/2,000]
[Total Word Count: 6,622]

Diana has earned two small Easter Eggs for participating in the Easter Feaster activity.

When combined with the small Easter Egg gained from the Easter Egg Hunt, Diana now has all three small Easter Eggs required for event completion.

Keeper? What the hell did that mean? Was that fancy talk for a guardian or something? Babysitter maybe? The blonde's mind couldn't really think properly over her misery, assuming it would have bothered to work out that mental puzzle to begin with under normal circumstances. As a wave of painful aches went through her stomach Aliarey groaned again. It was a shame really. Any of the events that required any sort of sporting movement, such as the relay race, were definitely out of the question. For a while at least. Maybe after all of that food settled and a trip to the bathroom was made at some point they could get to those activities. What were the blonde duo going to do now though? Some might have found watching Aliarey suffer on a table for hours amusing, but there was some doubt that Diana would have found it fun to watch for very long, and it certainly was not fun for Aliarey. The worst part in all of it though was that there was no room for dessert.

"You don't have any healing spells to get rid of this or anything, do you?" Aliarey painfully asked. It was a desperate hope. She couldn't remember if Diana had that kind of magic capability. She herself barely had any and what she did have wasn't powerful enough to get rid of stomach aches. It was mostly used for things that affected the outside such as cuts to the skin. Maybe she could summon a healing droid or something if the Diana route shattered her hopes of an easy remedy. Honestly, she didn't want to bother, but a backup plan was often effective when the main one was... well Aliarey just wasn't convinced that Diana could help her even though she made the effort to ask. They had a lot in common from what she had seen in the past and being a healer didn't seem like a strong trait or skillset for either of them.

(Word Count: 333
Aliarey Total: 3977
Thread Total: 6955)

Diana was standing and watching Aliarey's predicament play out when she heard the blue-eyed blonde's question. Diana made eye contact with the blue-eyed blonde before responding to the question. She did not need to think about her answer because she already knew what it was.

"I am afraid that I do not have any healing magic, Aliarey. I apologize for that." Diana calmly replied to her friend's question and apologized for being unable to help. If Aliarey was looking for someone with healing magic she was looking at the wrong mage. Diana then went silent for a few moments while keeping eye contact with Aliarey.

"Is there anything else that I can do to help you?" Diana broke the silence that had briefly reigned after the former told Aliarey that she did not know healing magic. Diana was going to stand by and watch over Aliarey until the latter could get up and move under her own power. Judging from the blue-eyed blonde's behavior, her recovery might take awhile. Fortunately Diana had plenty of time on her hands and was a patient mage. She would wait as long as she needed to for Aliarey to recover from the debilitating effects of overeating.

Aliarey was Diana's first real friend in a very long time and Diana really did want to help her, but in this case there was nothing she could do other than offer moral support. At least Aliarey's problem did not have the potential to be fatal... as far as Diana knew, anyway. Diana was not a healing mage nor was she a medical professional. In the meantime she would try to help her friend the best she could.

[Post Word Count: 280]
[Diana's Word Count: 3,258]
[Total Word Count: 7,235]