The Zodiac Empire

Chapter 25 - They're Back

"We're all going to be sick by the end of the day. Zento, let's see if we can find some towels," Casele said as she got up.

Once they came back with the towels and everyone was dried off, everybody discussed what to do next. Ultimately it was Cosena's decision. It was her birthday, after all. As she explained that she was fine with doing whatever everyone else wanted, her eyes came across a man cheering loudly. He won one of the games and got a huge stuffed panda for his daughter.

"You want to play that?" Alsen asked.

"We'd never win, those games are insanely hard, and you have to do really good to win any of the big prizes," Cosena explained.

"Then it's a good thing we're the bestest of them all!"

"...Bestest isn't a word."

"We'll catch you guys later, Casele and I are gonna ride the ferris wheel," Zento said as he and Casele walked off, his arm wrapped around her waist.

"Ferris wheel...I've always wanted to ride one," Naito gazed up at the vibrant ferris wheel that turned slowly in the distance. He looked over his shoulder when he felt a soft tap on his back. Kayla stood right behind him.

"I've always wanted to ride one too, but you can't ride alone..."

"Really? Let's ride together then!"

Kayla toyed with her fingers, her cheeks turning a light pink. "If you really want to..."

Naito took Kayla's hand. "I'll be back!" he exclaimed with a wave to Alsen and Cosena as he walked off with Kayla, leaving Cosena and Alsen alone together.

"Guess it's just you and me!" Alsen grabbed Cosena's wrist and skipped off towards the games. Her eyes danced around the dozens of games to choose from, until she spotted one with the giant panda as a prize. Ring toss. All they had to do was land forty rings around the bottle and they'd win the bear. With Cosena's freaky strength, Alsen figured it'd be a piece of cake. But, she wanted to be the one to win it for her sister.

"Can I have some rings, please?" she asked the lady behind the stand.

"How many?"

"As many as possible," she said and received two-hundred rings. It cost her a hundred tickets, but they could always get more if needed.

Her first ten rings weren't even close to the target. She clicked her tongue and furrowed her eyebrows, tossing the next five in a fury. Four of them hit the bottle cap but bounced off, while they fifth somehow flew backwards and hit her in the nose.

Cosena covered her mouth, repressing her laugh.

"Don't laugh, you meanie!"

Still trying not to laugh, Cosena stepped in front of Alsen. "Why don't we see who can score the most?" Two out of the first five rings she threw landed around the bottle's neck. "Your turn," she leaned against the stand with a smug smirk.

"Oh, this is a competition, is it?" Alsen licked her lips and rubbed her hands together. If Cosena wanted a competition, she would get one. Alsen threw her next five rings. Yet again, none landed. Cosena took her turn and landed one out of five. Three turns later, Alsen was down two to six. "Time to get serious," she told herself, and managed to score two in her next turn, but in her following three turns, failed to score at all. She was now down four to nine.

Both girls were sweating by the time they were down to ten rings left. They had gotten so competitive that a small group had formed around them, watching eagerly. The score was sixteen to nineteen. Just three points behind...Alsen could beat Cosena...she knew she could! She threw the next three rings one after the other. Much to her surprise, she landed three out of five.