(Pre-Show) The Barracks

[Guu]

Guu, firmly distracted by what had happened with the strawhatted man, decided it was good time to check out her room. She wandered down the rows upon rows of rooms until she found room 23. She promptly ignored the incessant yelling from her nearest neighbor, who was complaining to several staff members about how the soda fountains had the option for Coca Cola.

She passed through her door and was greeted by a rather plain room that was passable at least. It’s better than the one that greeted her in the Langweilig Inn. She found her bag, lying neatly not far from her bed. She’s quick to rifle through it to get an idea on what they are allowing in this thing. Some sort of TV dinners labeled MRE’s, bottles of water, a compass, a map… She unfolded the map and inspected it. She made a quick mental note of the places she’d like to visit, not making the connection that any of those locations could be the place she dies horribly in. Putting away the map, she pulls out her dataverse device and gets some tweets in, as well as a blog post.


---


As she surfed the net, reading up on everything she could on Dante’s Abyss, she had a nagging feeling that she had forgotten something. It was something important, at least to her as it was really biting at her conscience. She couldn’t quite piece together what, maybe her encounter with Gilgamesh really had thrown her for a loop. However, something caught her eye.

“Gildarts was going to this thing?” She asked out loud to nobody. She sensed out as far as she could, feeling for that middle-aged man he was familiar with. Sure enough, he was the lounge, playing cards with random people. With the scent caught, she shoved her device in her bag, slung it on her back and she ran off towards the recreation area of the barracks.


---

Along the way, she spotted someone very familiar. He was a mouse with round familiar ears that she had seen on about a million hats. Figured it would only take a second, she took a little detour.

He was just kind of sitting there, a little bit of sorrow on his face. His clothing was unfamiliar, but even then, it was obvious who he was. The famous Mickey Mouse. Taking a few minutes, she summoned a little notepad and pen into her hand and approached him, holding the pad close to her chest.

“Excuse me…” She said, catching the mouse’s attention. She pushed the notepad forward and into his paw. “Can I have your autograph?”

“Oh!” Mickey was somewhat surprised at the sudden fan. He grasped onto the pad and held out the pen. “Who should it be out to?”

“Guu. That’s spelt G-U-U”

He scribbled on the pad and then handed it back to her. The text read: “For my best pal, Guu. Sincerely, King Mickey the Mouse.” She recoiled at this.

“You’re a King?” She said, somewhat surprised.

“Well yeah. What else am I known for?” He asked, puzzled.

“Well, I… Nevermind. It’s just I’m royalty myself. Princess Guu of Ambrosia.” She curtsies before him. “Pleasure to meet you King Mickey.”

Mickey figured this little girl must be some king’s daughter, though the fact that she was in this tournament sickened him deeply. The fact that Karl would let a mere child compete was horrifying and disgusting. He genuinely hoped nothing bad happened to her.

“Anyways, there’s a guy I need to meet. If you’re ever in the Tangled Green, give us a visit sometime. Bye.”

She ran off, curving herself to wave at Mickey as she heading for Gildarts.

“Be safe, Princess Guu.” He said as he watched her run off.


---


Didn’t take long before that familiar red head was within view, suddenly playing solitaire. Without any warning, she slid into the seat in front of him.

“Hello Gildarts.”

He suddenly dropped his cards in surprise.

“Princess! You’ve been pulled into this, too?”

“Yep, it’s like I said in my e-mail. Representing Ambrosia in this thing.” She said, while stomaching the autographed notepad. “I’m guessing this was the reason you couldn’t come back to Ambrosia so quickly.”

“Yep, they roped me in.”

”Well, good to know I have some allies out there.”

At the mention of that phrase, that nagging feeling of dread came back to haunt her once before, it as driving her nuts.

”Glad to hear the mission was success. You’re rewards will come when we’re back at the kingdom”

“Oh, I don’t require rewards. I was only doing what was honorable.”

”Yeah, I got that from you, but I’d prefer to give you something. Maybe a nice house or something.” She stated, but before he could respond: “Not taking a ‘no’ for an answer.”

“Well, if you wish your highness.”

“Would love to meet that Molly you were talking about. She sounded feisty from her tweets. Getting her reward would be preferable, too.”

“Well she needs a job now, and a new home.”

“What was she hired for before?”

“Getting information.”

”Hmmm, we don’t have one of those. Consider her hired.”

“Haha, she’d be happy to hear that!”

”So how old is she?”

“Oh, can’t be older than 10.”

That nagging feeling returned in full force, but this time, like a light going off in her head, she knew exactly what she was forgetting. She stood up straight in her seat, which didn’t really gain her much height.

“Desco!”

“What?”

”I needed to find Desco! I’m an idiot!”

“Who’s Desco?”

She expanded her senses into the crowd, searching frantically for her friend. Eventually, she found her, perusing her device somewhere out there with two other people surrounding her.

“I’ve got to go. A friend needs me…” She said, jumping out her seat. But suddenly, she turned to Gildarts and grabbed his hand. ”On second thought, you’re not doing anything, you probably should come with.”

And with that, she yanked him out of his chair and onto his feet. She lead him through the crowd towards Desco.