Chapter 183:

Things were solved much quicker than Ace had expected, and in a way that certainly no one could have predicted, at least, no one that did not have any inside information.

The morning after, when Ace had finished his workout, had a shower and changed into some comfortable clothes, he entered the forums on his tablet, and to his surprise, things had mostly died down - well, relatively.

Supposedly, a few hours before, the families had met, and with 0 reported deaths - certainly a new record in their history, they had come to an agreement that would benefit both parties. They would allow the two young one's liberty to behave in the way they desired, and would even encourage them to get married if they so desired. They would also use this to attempt to appease the conflict, and hopefully enter a new era of prosperity for both families.

People on the forums were wildly speculating, but Ace was simply watching. Of course, there were more than a few reasons - the most meaningful ones the best hidden, as to why this had happened. Ace already could imagine of a few, and a simulation he ran on his own brain, with the projected situation agreed with his hypothesis - there was more than one reason, but something big had caused them both to declare a ceasefire and work together, anyone who had an ounce of brain and knew how these things worked could figure that bit out.

Alfred figuring it out would be a matter of time, so Ace might as well put him on the task now. Furthermore, whilst Ace could ask his grandmother to see what she knew - and he would, having Alfred on the case would also ensure that no tidbits of information would escape their grasp.

About half an hour of just catching up on all that had happened overnight - not just with this situation, but with the forums in general, and he was finished.

He looked over his itinerary of the day, he had no pressing concerns or meetings he had to attend to, but would most likely end up doing something with his friends, last he spoke with them, they wanted to surf the volcano on the island.

It was not active - of course, but the heat was still smouldering, and while the adrenaline rush was nowhere near surfing an active one, the truth was that it would be rousing regardless.

***

"So, what's the plan for today?", Igor asked as they got together in the morning.

They were all sitting on the sun lounges assorted around one of the many swimming pools. They were now discussing what it was they wanted to do for the day, but they could not end up coming together to do one thing. Ace would do whatever they wanted, but the others wanted to do different things.

"Simple, we stay here.", Ace said, and they all looked at him as if he was crazy, "Look, listen,", he said, before Sophie would burst, "We cannot decide what to do, so we do everything. Today, we make sure to get reservations for all the activities we want to do, meanwhile, we just chill in the pool, and play cards."

They all looked at each other for a few seconds, thinking about what Ace had just said. To all of them, the plan seemed sound, but they wanted to make sure that everyone else was of the same mind as well. Amy seemed to be the first to find what she was looking for, and she agreed, nodding her head, "Seem good with me, plus, this way, we can make this day a much more chill one, and also make it easy for the staff."

That was a good point, Ace, being who he was, could partake in an activity without signing up, but that made it harder on the staff, since they would have to either rearrange schedules, or more likely, some of the staff whose shift it was not, would have to come and cover for them, so that they would have enough personnel.

As she raised this point, Igor and Sophie agreed as well, and so, it was decided, they would spend the day in the proximities of the Tower, by the pool.

***

"Uno!", Amy shouted, and Sophie shouted in return, bellowing in rage, whilst the others laughed. Throughout the multitude of Uno games they had played, she had always come close to being first, and yet, she had always ended up being outdone by one person or another. She grunted, and staring at Amy, made her move.

Catching her by surprise, she hoisted her by the armpits, and by using her leg muscles, leapt into the water of the pool close by. Amy shrieked, and Sophie cackled, "Ha! Revenge!", the two boys laughed as well, and Igor looked at Ace mischievously, he nodded.

They readied for the runup and waited, and as soon as it appeared that the girls were going to peek their heads above the water, in order to breathe, they jumped, causing an explosion of water, which caused it to spray all into their eyes and face.

"Hey!", Sophie complained, but Amy just laughed, due to her position, Sophie had taken more of the spray, and when Sophie noticed this, she just got even angrier. She grabbed Amy's shoulders and pushed her down back underwater.

It was not long though, before Igor grabbed one of the many noodles lying around and just whacked her over the head with it, causing her to stare at him, deadpanned, "You are dead.", only in time for Amy to escape and throw a floatie at Ace, who looked at her in the same way Sophie had done to Igor, "You are dead.", she said, in a faux Sophie voice.

Igor laughed at the provocation, but only until Sophie stuffed his mouth with another noodle, causing him to move his head back, and retaliate with some streaks of his own.

***

Half an hour of water fighting after, they were all exhausted, the countless laughs and hits they had both taken and received tiring them all out.

They lifted their weary bodies from the pool, and just lay on the towels, ordering some food to snack on. They were silent, just focused on the food and drink that had been placed in front of them, when Amy proposed, "Binge?", they looked at each other, as if this was the most serious topic ever, and Igor replied, "Binge."

And well, that was that.

***

Ace moved lightly, hoping over the couch his three friends were sleeping on, they had been watching movies throughout the whole night, and now, it was six a.m, and they had just truly fallen asleep.

Ace, however, was out as soon as the movie finished, intent on carrying out his workout and taking a shower.

He was unsure of when the others would be waking up, but they would probably be asleep until about mid-morning or so, where they would all just have a late breakfast or early lunch together.