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"...and the newcomers are settling in pretty well. One of them is even a teacher, so we might be able to begin dividing classes further," Juli said. She turned the page over in her notes. She didn't need them; virtually everything she had to say was committed to memory, but she felt more secure having them anyway. She looked up from the notebook. "I think it'll be a good move. There's been some behavioral issues among some of the students and the extra challenge might settle them."

That wasn't all that Juli had to report to Giorno Giovanna, but she thought she pause for comment while they were still on a high note.

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“Oftentimes it really is that simple,” Giorno agreed.

Giorno rarely disagreed with what Juli had to say. He never had to ask for too much clarification and he never had to repeat himself, either. It was one of the things he quickly grew to appreciate about her.

So, out of respect for this fact, he was doing his best to appear awake and upright despite his body begging for the chance to slump over. It was evening and the sun was making it’s retreat.

The cool breeze helped him stay awake at least—they were in Giorno’s favored place to sit down which was the balcony connected to his personal room. It overlooked the valley and it was disconnected from the noise. Giorno wasn’t one to let most people share the space but the both of them got stopped whenever they tried to talk anywhere else.

“You should drink.” Giorno nodded at the glass of water infused with lemon. She hadn’t touched it yet.

"Oh, sure," Juli said. She had completely forgotten about it. She lifted her glass into her hand but didn't yet drink from it. "Are you okay? You look tired."

“A little,” Giorno conceded. Total denial would have been an insult to her intelligence. “There were more…incidents than usual today.”

That was to say…a lot of people in need of Gold Experience.

"Incidents?" Juli repeated back at him. She had heard about some incidents herself, but there had been so many lately, there was no telling if the incidents she knew about were the same ones Giorno was dealing with.

“Ambushes on the roads, mostly.” The villa was growing into a proper village and was connected to other towns that were fairly intact further out from the valley. Even if they were fortified against raids, it was no surprise that people making the trek back and forth would be most vulnerable. There were already people leading the effort on establishing safer travel routes.

“But it seems there are rumors of catacombs just beyond the boundary to the west. So…some of the kids are challenging each other to tests of bravery and whatnot. One of the men broke his arm last night saving some children wedging themselves behind a boulder trying to find the ‘secret entrance.’

Juli messed with her bangs, as she normally did when she was nervous or uncertain.

"That's not good. There was a fight that broke out earlier today, too. People are edge and tempers are flaring. If Chilchuck hadn't intervened, things would have been worse than they were."

"The amount of newcomers now compared to just months ago has rapidly grown. Combine that with strange phenomena and it's to be expected people would be on edge." Giorno suppressed a yawn with a sip of his own water. "Everyone should be kept busy in some way. I was thinking...it would be wise to compose a council."

The leadership had been pretty informal up until now, but days had become weeks and weeks had become months. Simple survival and sustenance wasn't enough anymore.

Giorno wasn't wrong; Juli was thinking the same thing -- at least about keeping everyone busy, that was. She hadn't even considered a council until now.

"Should I organize an election, then?"

'An election?' He hadn't considered one, truth be told.

"Actually, I was going to seek your input for recommendations."

"My recommendations?" Juli echoed. She almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. He wanted to hear her opinion on this?

“Yes,” Giorno confirmed with his usual easy confidence. “You’ve welcomed every newcomer since you’ve arrived and you interact with everyone more than I do at this point. If there’s anyone’s assessment I’d trust, it’s yours.”

Giorno had a point. "Well, there's a few people I think might work out. Chilchuck for one -- he's very good at keeping the peace. He's pretty worldly too."

Giorno nodded in agreement—Chilchuck was a natural first choice. He had been there for almost as long as Giorno himself.

“Who else?”

"I think Zelda would be a good choice, too."

Another natural choice.

“They’re quite competent…but most importantly, they’re trustworthy. At this point in the community’s growth, it’s essential that power doesn’t fall into the hands of petty opportunists.” Giorno’s eyes met hers. “For that reason, would you serve on the council as well?”

"Me?" That caught Juli off-guard. "I was going to suggest you."

“You’ve directly resolved a number of conflicts in the time you’ve been here. You’ve gained the community’s trust quickly.” Juli’s suggestions cemented Giorno’s decision. “I think everyone would be reassured if you held such a title.”

Juli began fooling with her bangs again. "Well, I..."

But before she could get the rest of her words out, a loud crashing sound bellowed out and the floor reverberated, strongly enough to send Juli falling to the ground.

An attack? That was the first thing that came to Juli's mind. She only heard sounds like that before when she was on board the Ryvius. She scrambled to her feet and rushed to the nearest window. In the distance, smoke billowed out from a dense forest.

Giorno had to brace himself hard on the table to avoid being bucked from his chair. He opened his mouth to call for Juli when she hit the ground but she was already back on her feet and alert before he could.

Giorno followed suit—quickly piecing together that whatever had happened was localized to the forest beyond the valley. He couldn’t feel a disruption in the roots that spread across the villa beyond the kinetic shock.

Giorno turned and began running towards the door. “Let’s go to the courtyard—quickly.” The people would panic.

Juli nodded as she kept pace alongside him. "I will stay and keep people calm. You should find some people to take with you."

She already knew Giorno would go even before he said anything.

~~

The task was simple and clear: keep everyone calm and contained to the villa borders. Absolutely no one was to step outside them other the reconnaissance team composed to Giorno, Chilchuck, and a few others who were setting up clear routes to and from the crash site.

And it was a crash. Zelda had seen it herself. It had eclipsed the sun ever so briefly where it hurtled to earth. While she longed to see it up close and personal to sate her burning curiosity, she had a more important task of keeping watch in the guard tower for strange phenomena. At least she had Juli with her once everyone was present and accounted for down below.

“Does this kind of thing happen terribly often where you’re from?” She asked Juli, making notes in her written log as she did between glances through the telescope.

Juli folded her arms in front of her.

"There hasn't been a spaceship crash in quite some time." That much was true. "There was one that was catastrophic on Mars before I was born and a lot of regulations were put into place to ensure that it didn't happen again."

"I see..." It certainly didn't seem like it was from wherever Juli and Criff were from, based on Juli's reaction to the way she described it. No one in the community seemed to recognize it, either--at least those who had gotten a glimpse of it.

If there was anyone on board, she prayed they were alright.

There were no emergency signals yet from the party. So far all seemed be okay.

"You know, I was quite close to insisting on going in Giorno's stead."

"Oh? Wanted to get a look at it yourself?" Despite the tense situation, Juli was trying her best to make light of it.

"Oh, well, yes! But rather...he seems quite exhausted, doesn't he?"