You Are My Special
The two walk along as Cherry follows Tetsuga through the streets in search of Derrick. "So how do you know where he is?" Cherry would question as she watched from behind the now glowing man. "I just do," Tetsuga would say as they continued walking. It took them a bit, but they eventually happen upon the end of the trail as Tetsuga's sees the footsteps turn a corner, which leads to a railing that oversaw some of the kingdom, with Derrick himself leaning onto one of the railings. admiring the sight. "Fund them," he would say as they stood by behind the boy. "Derrick!" Cherry was the first to greet him as she made her way over while the boy turned around after hearing her voice.
"Cherry!" he would exclaim as Cherry came in with an embrace. "We found you!" she would express as she released him. "Look, cherry, I'm really sorry for what I said. I didn't really mean for it to come out like that." Derrick would apologize, which she didn't really care for as all she wanted was to see this boy. Once he apologized, he glanced up and met eye-to-eye with Tetsuga, which made him awkwardly smile. "Sup kid," Tetsuga would say as he walked over to the boy. "Look, Mr. . Tetsuga, I made up my mind about it, and I'm fine with it," Derrick would confess, which made Tetsuga a little confused.
"Fine with what?" he would reiterate, as he was still confused. "I mean with Pyxis. I'm pretty sure he's a shoe in. I'm just saying I'm okay with being replaced. I know I'm not that special," they would say, which made the man sigh as he took a swig. "Look, kid, you and the little lady over here might be troublesome problems for me," Tetsuga would start as he placed a hand on the boy's head. "But it'd be a cold day in hell if I ever tried to replace you," he says with a sly smirk, which makes Derrick perk up at him. "Despite how I like having Pyxis around, you are special, Derrick, to me," Tetsuga would say with a content expression, which Derrick would reciprocate with a smile of his own. "I mean, life is nothing without problems. Plus, we made a promise, didn't we?" he reminds him. Derrick remembers the day when they cemented their partnership. He felt glad that he remembered that.
"Thanks, Mr. Tetsuga. That's reassuring," Derrick would tell him. Once he heard it from him, Derrick felt assured. and once he was, he was right back to his usual self. "Don't worry, kid. Now you know," he would say nonchalantly as he drank from his flask. "its great that you two have made up now," Cherry would comment as she watched from the sidelines. happy that Derrick was feeling like himself now. "Now, let's go to that sky-watching thing!" she would suggest, which reminded Derrick that they did plan to do that. "Oh yeah, the sky-watching thing! You want to come with Mr. . Tetsuga?" he would ask him. He gave it some thought before he answered him.
"Well, I don't really mind, but I'm looking to let Pyxis join us. That is, if you're cool with it." He would try to make sure this time, seeing as Derrick didn't feel all that good with Pyxis. but now that Tetsuga would assure him that he wasn't looking to replace him, he was fine with him joining them. "Sure! The more, the merrier!" he would say as he pumped his fist in the air. Cherry would've preferred it'd be them two, but she was glad he was back to good spirits again so she could let it slide for now. "Alright, let's pick him up from the tavern and head to it," Tetsuga would tell them as he turned to walk away while the two followed behind him. But as soon as they turned the corner, he was met by Pyxis, who was leaning against the wall.
"Oh, I guess you followed us," Tetsuga would say as they met. "Yeah. As soon as the performer started to spew puns out, I left to go follow you," he would say as he pocketed the blue stone into his satchel. "Aw man..." Tetsuga was a little miffed; he missed that part. He did enjoy a little bit of humor here and there. Too bad for him. "Well, you wanna join these two for some sky watching?" he would ask him, seeing as he was already there. "Sure, I've got nothing planned," Pyxis would say. but something about it felt like something was hiding behind it. Cherry was still not sure of him, so she felt so much.
"Cool, alright, Cherry, lead the way," Tetsuga would say to her, expecting that she would take the lead on this outing of theirs. but she stood there, not sure what to do herself as she didn't know where it was either. "I actually don't know where it is," she would say as they looked dumbfounded at her, except for Derrick, who knew as much. "Well, I know where the exhibit is, so I'll lead you guys there," he would say, which everyone was in agreement with as they followed him towards the sky-watching exhibit. but as they walked, the stone inside his satchel started to glow for a second before dimming again.
After a bit of walking for a while, Pyxis eventually found their way to the exhibit as they stood in front of a crowd of people who were also interested in the exhibit. There were stands off to the side that sold merchandise for the event, and right in the middle was a big telescope that was pointed straight up into the sky. "It looks like we're here," he would say as they all looked around the place. "Sheesh, this place is packed," Tetsuga would say as a lot of people were lining up to use the telescope. "Let's go line up so we can get out and turn!" Derrick would say as he quickly got behind the last in line while they stood by, expecting as much. "I'm going to go get some souvenirs! You guys wait with him," Cherry would say as she headed over to the stands that sold stuff for the event. She also made sure to gesture at Pyxis that she was keeping an eye on him, which he noticed as he held his hands up in defense.
They would stand around Derrick for a while as the line slowly diminished, putting them closer and closer to the telescope. Once it was Derrick's turn, he would go and use it as he placed his eye on it as he looked into what it showed. "So, what do you see, kid?" Tetsuga would ask as he leans a bit forward from behind, curious about what the boy was seeing. "Woah..." It was breathtaking, to say the least; Derrick could see a planet through it as clearly as day. It seemed so near, like he could reach out to it and touch it. but he knew how telescopes work, so he wasn't going to go and try. at least, not with how he was right now.
Meanwhile, Cherry went and chose their souvenirs, as she had already bought a few and was still choosing some for herself as she went over the jewelry that was told to be correlated to this stuff. She didn't really have any interest in the arts of astrology, but she was pretty interested in cosmetic jewelry and all that jazz as she saw a necklace that she thought looked interesting. "Oh, how much for this?" she would ask them, pretty interested in buying it off of them. "That would be one gold," they respond, which she had no problem giving to them as they received one gold from her. She admires it a bit in her hand; it was really pretty based on what she thought of it. feeling content, she turns around and goes to where Derrick was. but while she did so, she was suddenly shoved aside by one of the two knights as they walked past her.
"Ah!" As they shoved her, she fell to the ground, spilling her souvenirs onto the floor with the necklace she bought snapping and all of the beads from it rolling across the ground. Derrick hears her little yelp as he gets off the telescope and turns around to see what had happened to her. "Cherry, are you doing... alright?" As he did so, he was then met by 2 knights standing in front of them. "Ahem... Tetsuga Katsugoyo, you are hereby under arrest!" they would reveal, which made Tetsuga open his mouth in shock.
"Oh, c'mon!" he would complain, as yet another relaxing moment was being ruined by some outside force yet again. At this point, it was basically just routine for him as he confronted the knights. One of the knights, specifically the one that had announced his arrest, had what he would call a shit-eating grin, with the other being a goliath compared to his size, as they towered over the knight and him. "Don't worry. I got this," Tetsuga would go and say to the two behind him as he tried to throw a punch towards the one who was grinning. But then the giant hand from the other knight comes in and engulfs his hand. stopping it in place. Tetsuga would try pulling it out but sees his hand not budging. "... uh oh," he would gulp as the giant man gripped him by the throat with his free hand, the other still on their hand, then body slammed Tetsuga into the ground as he coughed up blood from the impact. "AGH!!" he yelps in pain. The pain shoots into his back as the floor caves in from the impact as a mold of his back is smashed into the floor.
"Nice try, criminal, but attacking a knight is only going to increase your sentence," the guy says with his grin still on his face as he and the giant man loom over him. "Tetsuga!" Derrick exclaims as he sees the man get washed by the big knight in armor. He was about to go and help, but then multiple knights showed up from within the crowd with their spears pointed right at him and Pyxis, threatening to stab them if they even thought of contesting them. "Now, child, you wouldn't want to be at the business end of a spear, now do you?" they would taunt as they knew they had them at a corner. Tetsuga tries to struggle out of the knights; grasp, but they are too strong, as their grasp holds firm and keeps them on the floor. immobilized from being able to do anything.
"Pyxis! You gotta help him!" Derrick would go and plead with him for backup. but Pyxis had a solemn expression on his face. as if he were hiding a dirty secret that had been finally revealed. Derrick didn't know why, but soon he did, as Pyxis would slowly walk over to the knights. then stands at their side. giving him a clear sign that Pyxis had been leading them all along.
"I'm sorry," was all he could say to him.