Return of the Emblem Chapter Six: Enemies Abound

[Zsword]

Shadrak sighed. "<Okay, I get it, but still, you aren't at home, your with humans, and it would be good for you to follow our ways while you are here, so you don't upset certain people who are not afraid to stab you, apolgizing would be a good step towards making the people not afraid to stab you much happier with you.>" Shadrak explained further, hoping to get the point across that Gabbie wasn't exactly someone you got on the bad side of.

[Phoenix]

Siv: The Foreigner

<"I can't ... just ... lie to her and say I apologized."> Siv shot back.

Atsuko: The Foreigner

"Hmm ... maybe that's it. Kai and Katsu kept trying to explain to me that people always had a choice in how they live their lives, but their parents and culture have a lot of influence over what they choose. I guess it would be stronger in a demonic culture. I don't think it changes anything ... they're still terrible, but I guess it's a bit easier to see why with all the villains running around in our own countries ..." she said. "I'm kind of hungry ... so I'm going to try and find the kitchen and see if I can make something for myself."

Raquel: The Local

"Reina ... shut up." Wait ... Reina's not ... Raquel paused to open her eyes and try to figure out who was singing. Looking around the room she saw Chelsea ... and a wagon load of runes all over. "Chelsea? What are you doing in here?" she asked sleepily.

[Mercakete]

"Oh, so, that's th' language th' Kigen people speak, aye? Never learned anythin' 'cept Common meself. Hoy, Siv, ye know Kigenese and Common? Yer a smart bird, aren't ye?" Gytha asked, first talking with Shadrak, then moving on to speaking to Siv since she still couldn't understand the Kigenese chatter and so didn't consider it interrupting per se.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why is she acting so weird? There's something not right about all this... They're being too friendly. I don't like it. And being called "sir" just feels weird. And what was with that wink? What was that supposed to mean? "Um, okay. Firstly, please just call me 'Bert.' I'm not a gentleman or anything so 'sir' doesn't work with me. As for food, anything that's good for someone who fights a lot, preferrably something with a good ammount of meat. Man, I haven't been eating enough of that..." Norbert somewhat awkwardly answered the waitress, a little uneasy about their abilities and demeanor. Just...not natural...

[Acacia Sgt]

''Ah, I see.'' John said, finishing his steak. ''I wonder though, would we be staying that long? Well, in any case, see ya around.'' He finished rising back from the table.

<Well, with that out of the way, what next?> He began walking away. <Probably back to the room, or perhaps see how Gil's doing. Hmm...>

[Zsword]

Shadrak rolled his eyes. "<okay, you took her meal from her, so now she might go hungry, and not sufficiently work for the rest of the day, the wasting her time, and the food, which might of been put to better use fueling her abilities.>" he stated to Siv. "Yeah... It's a tricky language, not as tricky as Skotian though... wait, Gytha, I thought you were from Skotia, or did you just not travel enough to pick it up?" He asked her, before shooting Gabbie a nervous glance. "I'm trying to convince her to apolagize by the way..." he explained to her, before turning back and addressing Gytha.

Zel and Krystal glanced at each other... What Shad just said didn't sound like it was going to go well... Zel spoke up. "Wait, the festival is still going on, would anyone care to join me in this second round?" He asked in a very polite, formal tone. Hmm, maybe I can find Aneda again... she wasn't too bad to hang around with before...

[Mercakete]

"What? I travel around a lot since I'm a mariner. I usually anchor in Fairgale, though, and that's in Ursium," Gytha sort of clarified, seeming geniunely confused by Shadrak's assumtion that she was Neviskotian. From there, she turned her attention to Zel and piped up, "I was plannin' t' go t' th' festival, too! Was goin' t' ask s'more people, but s'far, Amon and th' lance lady with th' sandwitch said they'd go, too."

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"Smart? I ... think so." she replied to Gytha before Shadrak began trying to convince her again. She shook her head with her eyes tightly closed at the next request saying <"No, I can't. Just lie to her.">

Gabbie was starting to get bored. "Eh, I'll just beat her upside the head if she does it again. Not loike an apology replaces my panini. Only one of the waitresses can pull that off ..." she ranted a bit before waving over a waitress. "Another one, please." she said before swiftly shoving the other half into Siv's face. Most of it went into the unsuspecting fallen's mouth. "Enjoy it, ya little buzzard." She then walked off. Siv didn't really register the insulting gesture or the verbal one that followed and instead tried to make sure none of the food fell to the floor while she ate it.

"Bert, hm? Alright then, but you might have to correct a few more people before it sticks; that's just a friendly warning~" the waitress explained. "I know just the thing though. Just wait here and have a seat. I'll be back with your meal shortly."

Main Hall

"Actually we're all going after her. Come on." Weyland instructed before heading off after Caterena.

"Hmm, I suppose food can wait." Steinn said sounding almost completely neutral. He followed after as well since Weyland didn't want him venturing into the dining hall on his own.

Edited September 25, 2011 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

"Friendly warning?" I don't trust these people. Probably nothing "friendly" about it. Norbert thought as he sat down at the nearest table to wait for his food. Something isn't right here. These waitresses... They appear so suddenly. They're so stealthy... Definately trained as assassins or something like that. And why are there only waitresses? Sure there were guys working in the stables but I've yet to see a waiter or a butler. It could be just that this Weyland guy preferrs female servants...but what's that say about him then? Maybe it's some sort of coup...assassin waitresses... No one would see it coming... Norbert suppressed a small shiver at the thoughts before trying to get it out of his mind. Nah. They're probably honest workers who just like winking at their guests and are unnaturally stealthy. ... Alright, there's a middle ground somewhere. An army of waitresses? Weyland could be the one in charge of it; that'd make sense. Or maybe there's someone else behind the scenes pulling the strings... What am I thinking? That's too extreme again. Maybe they're just quiet. ... To test his theory, Norbert began listening carefully for footsteps or any other sound that would indicate someone walking up to him.

[Acacia Sgt]

John stopped when he heard Zel. <The festival?> He thought. <Not a bad idea, although...> He shook his head. Maybe I'll think about it first. He said resuming his way back to the guest rooms.

[Rothene]

Finishing his breakfast, Ranyin saw Bert sitting down looking nervous. Finding it funny, Ranyin chuckled a bit as he walked towards the pegasus rider...

***

Hearing Weyalnd's orders, Mireille immediately bolted off after Caterena, being grateful that her armour was of the lighter kind, custom ordered by her father to accomodate her...less robust strength. It had less protection than the typical knight armour, but at least it was light enough and not too bulky for her to retain enough manoeuvrebility to weave around combat quickly as well as retain most of her running speed when needed.

It enabled her to keep Caterena's back in sight as she chased the woman.

[Mercakete]

Norbert looked up as he heard the footsteps, only half-expecting to see a waitress there. Instead, it was Ranyin. "Hi Ranyin," the pegasus knight greeted, "Could you sit down? I'm testing something. I asked for food so a waitress will bring it here, but they seem to come out of nowhere. So I'm listening to hear if they're really all that stealthy or if I just haven't been paying attention. It'd be uncharacteristic of me, but it's not impossible. Why don't you try listening for them, too?" He wanted to get the talking overwith as quickly as possible in case a waitress snuck up on them again.

[Rothene]

Ranyin nodded and sat quietly. He had played tricks on others in the academy before...thus he knew how would one try to approach sneakily on others. He had the fortune of having the speed to back up his antics...as well as a healthy dose of luck.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"You probably can just ask the staff here for help, nobles and their guests tend not to prepare their own meals," Veronika said to Atsuko, as she returned back to her business of waiting for Weyland.

Connor

"Er, you all should try to come back shortly if you end up leaving. Uncle has some more business to discuss with you all I think. Europa's not necessarily the safest place after dark anyway, though there won't be any trouble here in the manor obviously," he piped up to the people in the dining hall.

[Zsword]

Shadrak sighed and rest his heads on hands, propped on his elbows on the table... he felt bad for failing to reach a middle ground, and all he really could do was wait for the others... or something.

Zelatus smiled at Gytha. "That's good, especially with a small group, towns aren't as safe as one would like to think they are, even worse during events like the ascension festival." He said to whoever happenned ro be around to here him.

Krystal looked a little saddened at the thought of the festival again. "So... why do you right wishes on the rocks?" She asked, hoping to understand this strange event a little more.

[GoD]

"Mmm... Oh Raquel? It's nothing... Nothing at all. I just decided to read and experiment for awhile, so don't worry yourself about the runes. They'll be gone momentarily, so just go to sleep."- Chelsea told Raquel without looking up from her book.

"But still, maybe I should guard the door. After all it's not like the presence left..."- Chelsea mumbled.

[Phoenix]

Runes wha???

What has she done to this room? Raquel wondered. Raquel wasn't comfortable going back to sleep really. How would the place look the next time she opened her eyes?

Atsuko

"I'm not sure I should be taking advantage of Weyland's hospitality too much right now. I might be yelling at him furiously or something when he gets back." Yeah, I know how I get when people lie to me and my brothers, especially about a job. We went into this so motivated. If it turns out we were just bringing some fallen for some feather fetish, I'm ... not sure I'd even be able to take that. I want to know that they died for something that mattered ...

As she headed outside, she saw a woman clad in red robes fast walking down right past her. Another woman clad in white armor came by shortly thereafter, and then Weyland himself along with a winged man ...

"... Weyland." Who's the other one? He looks like a noble almost. Please ... please don't tell me a some dark avian hired Weyland to bring back a tailed playmate for him. I don't want to find out that's what this is ...

Weyland actually stopped when he came to her at the open door. "Ah, Atsuko. So you did make it." he said to the mercenary. He also noticed Veronika behind her in the room but she wasn't close enough to warrant leaning in and saying hello just yet.

"You've ... got some explaining to do." she said coldly, obviously holding back.

"I'll address your concerns momentarily, but first I need to catch Miss Blanco."

Atsuko stood there silent. She didn't really have anything else to say and decided to make for the dining hall.

Into The Dining Area!

When Rodrigo made it to the dining room he noticed that much of the party was there. "Huh, looks like a nice place to wait out the storm ..." he said to himself before walking over to the table, sitting down at the table, back straight, and crossing his arms. The position looked rather unnatural. Giving a resolute nod, he said "This can only end one way ... loudly, and from here I won't have to worry about getting sucked into it." He nodded again to himself.

"Why do we write on the rocks? Well imagine in the old days when normally you'd have to pray to the gods for somethin' you wanted. What if one day you saw a bunch of rocks just lift up and drift off into the heavens? Some people got the oidea that writing a wish down on them would be more effective than just thinkin' up at the gods, ya know? Quoite a few astronomers are pretty damn certain that those 'wish rocks' are just gettin' added to the asteroid belt somehow, but that's not really enough to kill a festival that's been goin' on for centuries, heheh. It probably helps that some people actually seem to have their wishes granted too." Gabbie explained while waiting for her panini.

Amon thought about what Connor said and took it to heart more than most would. Oh right. The last time I went out, I ran into Silvia ... then ended up in the hospital ... He finished his stew and sighed. I'm not sure I really want to go now ... but it seems that more people will be around so there's strength in numbers.

[-Cynthia-]

Noting Weyland was outside her room now, Veronika stepped out. She would have liked to discuss the organization right here and now, but since Weyland was willing to brush off Atsuko so quickly, she figured he was too busy for a proper talk anyway.

"Who is this Miss Blanco? Some sort of family dog? I can assist you in finding her if necessary," Veronika said to Weyland. The avian man was unfamiliar, but there would probably be time for introductions later.

[Mercakete]

"So, what sort o' events're at this city's festival?" Gytha asked Connor. He lived in Europa, so she assumed he'd know.

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

"It's pretty similar to the one we saw back in Urden, but a lot bigger. The rocks are a lot bigger, since there are more people writing their wishes on them, and there should be a ton of merchants. The Naturites will probably get more involved in this one directly, since Europa has one of the biggest cathedrals in all of Ursium. Oh, and the fireworks. There's always a big display after the rocks are sent up. People say it's so that Nature will notice the rocks coming up more easily, I'm not sure if it actually helps or not, but it's pretty cool looking all the same," he responded to Gytha.

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"I'll also be putting on another show after the fireworks tonight." Rodrigo added, not moving an inch. He was still distracted with whatever he was thinking about.

I don't think I should go ... last time Silvia showed up and ... yeah. Amon thought with his head hung low. Great. Now I'm paranoid.

The Blanco Incident

"Afraid not. Miss Blanco is Raquel's mother. She practically dragged me away from the university to try and talk her out of this rescue mission. If we were to keep dogs on the property, I would prefer at least ten ... probably attack dogs." he replied.

Caterena circled back at the end of the hall and returned to Weyland and the others quickly asking "Are these where the guests stay?"

"... yes." And three ... two ... o-

"RAQUEL!!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Raquel

"Just another hour ... one more hour and I would have been fiiine ... urgh." she moaned as she slid from the bed and began lazily walking toward the bedroom door.

[Mercakete]

"Ah, ahoy, Fix," Gytha greeted Rodrigo, missing a few syllables in his stagename. "Hm? Amon, ye a'right?" the mariner asked her friend, noticing how gloomy he was all of a sudden, "Ye sick?"

[Phoenix]

Amon

"Oh it's nothing ... just ... relived a bad memory there for a minute. I ended up in the hospital last time I was here, remember? Heheh." he explained with a nervous laugh. He knew he had become a more competent combatant since then but ... maybe their enemies had too ....

[Mercakete]

"Oh, aye, I remember that. Don't worry 'bout that, Amon. I'll protect ye. Ye won't have t' worry 'bout hosp'tals and their thieves," Gytha replied, only half-remembering the event.

[Phoenix]

Dining Area

Actually, I was more worried about our true enemies randomly showing up but I can't say I'm a fan of hospitals. They were going to charge me an absolute fortune. Amon thought to himself.

Once Gabbie's panini arrived, she began eating again, while occasionally glancing over at Siv. Siv just watched her eat, with more vigilance than one would expect from the young fallen. Almost like she was trying to look like a looming thief.

"Here you are, Bert~ Some poridge, with just enough sweetness to put a smile on your face, two slices of toast--with olive oil spread--, and a fresh banana. You should also consider eating some meat later on either in the evening or any time between now. This breakfast should get your body get more 'ready' for it. Okay?~" she greeted with a tray with all the listed items on it along with a glass of water.

[Mercakete]

Suddenly, waitress. Norbert managed to keep from jumping as she suddenly started talking and presented the food to him. Sure he was suprised but the fact that were was free food that was what he asked for took prsedense. "Thanks," he replied to the waitress, mentally jotting down the advice which he intended on following. Then he began eating -- poridge first. He didn't even realize how hungry he was until he began the meal. After the first bite, he was entirely focussed on it. Actually, how determined his expression was was sort of humorous as he vigorously shovelled the food into his mouth, intent on putting the food into his stomach.