Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Phoenix]

Study

Siv got angry rather quickly as soon as Annelise began asking about her. "Quite the opposite, actually," Steinn began to explain while smiling in amusement at Siv. "She is the little dove hoping to win Valdimarr's affections through her incredible feats of commitment and endurance. She would have been a much more valuable hostage under better circumstances, but we ran out of time. Now we'll have to fight Valdimarr after he's had time to prepare himself. We still have the advantage, but he has the freedom to bring any forces he wishes to bear against us."

"Lord Valdimarr is free to ... what?"

"Well, Siv, it seems Valdimarr is now Sovereign. I don't plan to leave it at that, but for now, we need to wait for him to make the next move," Steinn explained to her.

"He will come to save Norn and me. You should run while you still can," Siv warned, minding her wording. Common wasn't her favorite language, but Steinn had forced her to not only practice it, but also not speak in any other language as part of her immersion.

"Perhaps ..." he replied with some disinterest. Her opinions weren't necessarily off, but they were bias and he wasn't going to take them to heart when he'd already given the situation plenty of thought.

Dining Hall

"Ah, Arietta. You're waiting for orders? Hmm, well until we figure out exactly how Raquel and her companions will be moving forward, I've got nothing new for you. Things here have been pretty quiet. You can either use this time to relax or lend a hand around the estate. Whatever you decide to do for now, do not leave the city. I need you and just about everyone else on call." It doesn't help matters when I consider that Steinn's plan is taking far longer than either of us anticipated. If what he told me about these strange gates turns out to be true, we'll have to tip off the army. I can't have my people involved on that front.

Hallway

"Hmm ..." the maid began thinking for a moment. "Is there a chance she may have retired to one of the guest rooms?"

Garden

"It may yet happen whether or not we give the matter much thought," Eugene noted. "Hopefully these people have the sense to only fight where it's appropriate to do so, for the sake of the people they claim to protect."

"Chivalry will be dead in just a few more generations, I assure you," one of the others spoke up.

"Mmm, yellow?"

"N- ... s-stop guessing!"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Gar made the necessary corrections to his list based on Veronika not going and sword-guy going. That probably coulda used different words but whatever. Gar sang his song.

[Mercakete]

Norbert nodded at that. Not only was it likely, but it was definitely the most desirable of options he'd thought of. He didn't have to worry about anyone else that way. Well, except for those unnatural maids and that spirit that lived in Raquel. ...What sort of world have I been living in that those things are normal? The internal query was absolutely irrelevant, though, and so it died out basically immediately. There was another problem altogether to deal with now. "There must be hundreds of guest rooms in this place, though! This'll take way too long if we check each one..." he sighed.

[Phoenix]

Hallway

"Fortunately, we won't have to check them all. Keeping track of a large number of guests is a real chore for the staff, but we've taken steps to ease the burden," the maid replied. She seemed to be about to explain more as she stared off down the hall. "Since the overwhelming majority of your group went straight to the dining room after getting here, it's likely only a few rooms have been taken. Those would be the ones closest to the main staircase on the second floor. Therefore, those first rooms are the only ones we should check to start. Furthermore, there's probably a marker on the door of each room that's currently being used. It's how we know which rooms are vacant while making our rounds. A guest wouldn't notice them, of course, but we should only have to check a few guest rooms to find Raquel for you."

[Ether]

"I see... so she is the Finnian girl." Annelise noted, as the two began a little spat.

***

"Of course, Mr. Weyland." Arietta replied, as he essentially gave her leave, so long as she remained in the area.

[Mercakete]

"Huh." Norbert was actually impressed at how efficient the wait staff's guest-check system alone was. "That's...a lot more complicated than I expected. Sure sounds handy, though... Does Weyland usually have a lot of guests or something?" Right, Weyland's whole life is about coming up with the next way of doing things... Makes sense that he'd have this sort of system up before anyone else. A mark the guests won't notice? Do the maids pit those up or the guests? I don't remember any marks, so I guess it's the maids... Er, how do those work? Could be anything, I guess...

[Phoenix]

Study

"Who is she?"

"Siv, this is Annelise Mortos. Annelise, Siv Finnian," Steinn introduced the two. Then to the former-latter (confused?), he said, "Siv is technically a hostage, but she's rather docile for a spoiled child and understands the severity of her situation. She can roam the grounds so long as she behaves."

"She's on your side ..." Siv dejectedly concluded.

"It would seem so," Steinn teased.

Hallway

"On rare occasions, but those rare occasions used to be a real nightmare for us. We just wanted an easier way to know which rooms were being used and which ones weren't. We still have to 'hunt down' guests that aren't currently in those rooms, though, so let's hope Ms. Raquel is actually in there right now, hmhm," the maid replied. In the meantime, she'd stepped out ahead of Bert to take the lead as they approached the main staircase.

Edited August 31, 2013 by Phoenix

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

New guy said exactly nothing for too long for Gar's tastes so he said, "well whatever," and shrugged. Gar took a glance around and saw a fair few folk in the dinning area. This got hi a brilliant idea between bursts of song. He backed away from his previous location and took a moment to clear his throat before shouting quite loudly. "Alright people! As you should all be well aware right now, Raquel has an important meeting involving the Royal Ball going on later. And hey, letting her go alone would just be terrible, so let's all decide which of us are going, who we're going with, and if you're instead just escorting them to the ball or just not doing anything!" Well that was just kinda a bad speech. "I"m making a list and would appreciate it if everyone gave their little inclinations so we don't pointlessly waste time later!"

[Mercakete]

Norbert was actually beginning to relax a little...until she mentioned hunting guests down. And that laugh... He never trusted those soft hum-laughs. It always sounded like they had you right where they wanted you to him and that was a very uncomfortable feeling. The result was that he got very quiet and very tense. Did she mean that literally? It didn't sound like it, but these maids are really tricky... For a moment, he considered just outright asking her about it, but then began wondering how smart that would be. Who knows what they'd do if they found out I was onto them? Maybe it's best if I just keep my mouth shut...

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

Gytha looked up to Gar from her meal when he gave his announcement and arched an eyebrow. "'Goin' with'? I thought we were all goin' with each other... Or d' we have t' go in separate groups?"

[Ether]

"What a quaint little scene... who thought Valdimarr's little fancy would take up maid work?" Annelise mused, a rare smile cracking upon her lips.

***

"The ball, huh? Can`t say I ever thought I would be anywhere near one of those..." Faatina replied, as Gar brought the subject up front and center. She didn't even know if she was going, herself.

***

So it seemed Gar was forcing the issue, huh? Well, he was certainly assertive when he needed to be... may as well observe a tad longer, she didn't really have any weight with these people.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"It's called two specific people going together. Or a date, or a plus one. Or more relevantly having a bunch of people show up and look entirely solitary would arose questions and suspicions we'd all rather avoid aye?" Gar answered gun-lass' question. "Though more specifically, there will be around three groups. Those going to the ball and in pairs, those escorting the ball pairs to the assembly, and a third group of reserves staying here or whatever."

Next he turned to the rexian girl. "I doubt any of us ever thought going to a royal ball was a possibility yet here we are."

[Ether]

"I suppose that's true." Faatina replied.

[Mercakete]

Gytha frowned at that. "I'd rather just go without a date. Don't think it'd arouse suspicion...would it? Ev'ry celebration I've been to had both couples n' singles, anaway. Groups o' friends, too."

[scorri]

Erion

Erion paused as Gar shouted something about the ball. <"Well, I suppose I'll go talk to him about that later. Are you going to the ball? Seems like you might run into a bit of trouble if you do, what with your accent and all. I've managed to rid myself of mine after years of living not in Skotia, but yours still seems to be hanging around. Hey, I've been wondering. What's that egg? Mind if I take a look at it? Never seen anything quite like it."

Lumi

Noticing that her idea had mostly just resulted in stuttered excuses and silence, Lumi shrugged. "Well, I guess we're all just staying here then. Aneda, you mentioned something about hair dye. Do you want to redye yours? There are so many interesting colors that we could make it. I have some experience there. Though... Mostly that was dying pegasus coats to make them look better..." She trailed off into silence hoping that she hadn't offended Aneda by comparing her hair to the coat of a pegasus.

Hoshi

Staring at her desk, Hoshi sighed in frustration. Ugh. I just need to do something. Anything. Something to get my mind off this until I get some help. Suddenly, she straightened up a bit. One of the new women had been wearing a pair of knives. She'd seen the like before and had worked on them in fact. They were clearly throwing knives, but they weren't the best that they could be. She started sketching out a design. Make them slightly longer, but change the balance slightly too. Add a slightly sharper edge and tip that will take longer to wear down... Yes. I think I could do this...

[Snowy_One]

"<I don't have any real reason to go to the ball. Even without my accent, a girl like me would stick out like a sore thumb and I have no one there to make me want to go. Not that I wouldn't mind going if I did.>" said Robin as she carefully lifted the egg up, making sure her hand was on the bottom for support. "<As for this egg... I don't know. It's just a big egg. I dread what may hatch from it, like a dragon or something, but it's important enough to warrant being careful with it. I suppose it would be fine for you to hold it for a bit though.>" she said before, carefully, extending the egg out for him to examine. "<What about you? Will you be going to the ball? I hear such things are very elegant and the like.>"

Edited August 30, 2013 by Snowy_One

[scorri]

Erion carefully took the egg from Robin. <"Hmm, no, not a dragon egg. I've seen those before and this isn't one."> He carefully looked over the whole egg, noticing the start of a crack that would likely be where whatever was inside this thing chose to hatch from. With a slight grin, he continued, <"You know you cracked it, right? It *shouldn't* affect whatever is inside, but it might... The fact that it's still warm means you likely haven't killed it."> He continued looking over the egg, before shrugging. <"It's probably fine. Who did you say found it? Also, no reason beyond the accent why you shouldn't go to the ball. You'd fit in just fine, I'm sure. Give you a nice dress, do your hair, you'd blend in perfectly.">

[Snowy_One]

"<There is a crack? Oh... No. That can't be good. Either it's broken, or it's hatching. If there is no fluid on the floor I doubt the inner shell got ruptured, but still, best get this to Raquel now.>" said Robin, taking the egg back and holding it tight, hoping to keep it safe. "<And maybe I would, until I skin the ham, pick my teeth with the butter-knife, and the like. I mean, I'm not against it and I'm sure I could fake it well enough, I do have some social graces, but what would it accomplish? I'd get all prettied up and stand in a corner, trying my best not to fall over in heels while some noble who doesn't realize he's talking to a commoner from an enemy nation makes passes at me.>" said Robin as she quickly looked for Raquel, hoping Erion wouldn't care about the bi-polar nature of their conversation right now, not that it was hurting. Talking about the ball was keeping the panic of scrambled giant egg from fully gripping her mind after all!

---

Tia was scowling madly. Permission to enter a library? Why did she need that in the first place? It was a place of learning and knowledge! Shuttering it away from everyone else only limited that, turning the world into a darker place. But no, she needed permission from Weyland first. Well, better to smile and act nice and hope her future employer (hopefully) would be willing, as opposed to just shoving her aside for not being an adult, or technically anything at all.

[scorri]

<"Geeze, calm down. I was just teasing. It's pretty clear it's just going to hatch somewhat soonish, is all. But yeah, you should get it to its owner soon then. Don't think Raquel made it here though. I think she went for a nap or something. Least, that's what I think I overheard at some point. And you really need to chill out. You're way too stressed out for your own good. Relax. Have some fun. Smile."> He shrugged and then turned to make sure that he wasn't lying about Raquel not being there.

[ReformBlade]

"Dye huh?" replied an intrigued Aneda, "only if you get yours done too. I'm thinking we could both be raging red heads. think it sounds fun?" Imagining herself and Calumeina as some form of same hair colored siblings, she smiled. "Come on, you know you want toooo~" If nothing else, it'd keep me off of the past few days and how dumb they were. "Seriously, I think you'd look pretty cute with red hair, one just as vibrant as yours is now."

[scorri]

"I, buh, uhm. I think that would freak out Star Hunter if nothing else. Seriously. He's grown up with me always being the same. He's barely more than a colt. I think that if I changed anything serious about myself... I dunno. Plus, I've always been blue. It matches my magic. If I turned red head, I'd have to start learning fire magic or something." She stuck her tongue out at Aneda to make it clear that she was at least partially joking. "But if you're not interested... I dunno. What else could we do?"

[Snike]

Evelyn sighed at the mention of the death of chivalry. "Some would say it has been dead for a while," she said, looking away. "Regardless, Eugene is right in that the amount of thought put into it will not change whether or not that type of warfare sees the light of day. So I would rather not put much thought into it and move on to another subject."

[ReformBlade]

"We've got all the time in the world and a wealth of resources and places to visit, there's positively too much we can do. Go drinking, partying, just sort of hang out, gorge on some more food, we could go around pranking people on our pegasi or something... you know, the usual." Aneda rather quickly replied in a very serious tone, "Oh and I guess if you're not gonna dye your hair, well... you're missing out~ And who knows, maybe Star hunter would prefer you as a red head? Pretty sure a lot of guys would too~"

[Phoenix]

Study

Annelise's remark earned her a glare from Siv.

"I'll just take my leave," the servant spoke up, setting the plates down for Steinn and Annelise. After that, he turned to leave, slowing down as he approached Siv. "You should probably come along," he suggested.

"Hmph ..."

Not sure if she was reluctantly accepting his suggestion or just outright refusing, he added, "Are you coming?"

"... mmmph. Yes ..."

Dining Hall

Reign glanced upward when Gar made the official announcement about his new job as ... group keeper or something. Well, if anyone was going to do it for this evening, it might as well be him. While he spoke with Gytha, Faatina mentioned not having ever expected this turn of events. Who had? Gar noted this as well before Reign finally spoke up and asked her, "Are you thinking of going?"

"So, teacher," Shadrak spoke up as Chie finished another glass of wine. "I was wondering if, while you're in town that is, if you'd be willing to help me continue with some of my training ..."

"I suppose that would be fine, but don't think it will be easier just because of how far from home we are ..."

Shadrak squinted at Chie's sleeves when she said that. ... she still has those snakes with her, doesn't she? Oh Lord Truth, she does. I can almost feel it. Urgh, why would she bring snakes to the table? If anyone spots them, they'll freak out and ... uuugh. Well, so far nothing's happened, so I guess as long as I don't say anything about it ... "By the way, where's Naoki?"

"Somewhere on the grounds. I don't need him right now, so I let him roam."

"... I see. Thank you. Oh and uh ... anything new? With what we discussed in the letters, I mean?" he asked, leaning toward her a little.

"No. I suggest you go with one of these groups when the time comes. Our research is dead in the water until we have a specimen to look at," Chie answered. Her wording made Shadrak wonder if she was hiding what their research was about, just like he was, or if she didn't care one way or the other and things just happened to come out vague.

Then, Shadrak's attention was drawn to Robin and Erion, who were doing something with the vasilus egg. Robin looked really concerned, and by the time he'd noticed, Erion was beginning to try and get her to 'relax'. What for, he wondered? What was going on, now? "Uh, what's wrong with the egg, exactly? And what's Raquel need to see it for? I doubt she's an expert on vasilus infants."

"She's not an expert on infants, period, forget the feather folk and vasili," Reign noted while averting his eyes from the situation and focusing on his food. I wonder if my plan to keep that thing from taking too much after one person is working or not. Proximity might not be the only factor, and that has me a little worried. I guess as long as it doesn't take after a jackass, we won't have any apologizing to do later on.

Hallway

After ascending the main staircase and rounding the left corner at the top, Bert and his suspicious maid guide had arrived at the guest rooms. She deliberately ignored all but a few of them. She approached one on the right side first and knocked on it a few times. She also asked for Raquel specifically. After receiving no answer, she said, "No answer means either the guest isn't in right now or is quite the heavy sleeper, hmhm. Next one."

She knocked on the door on the other side of the walkway, closer to the stairs, and asked for Raquel again.

Inside that room, Raquel began to stir. "Mmm ..." Is someone calling for me?

... yeeees~

Please don't let it be time for the ball, yet. It feels like I've only been asleep for five minutes. She slowly began to pick herself up, and in doing so, realized just how close she was to the edge of the bed at that moment. If she'd placed her hand just a little bit more to her right, she would have lost her balance and fallen to the floor. She stared worriedly at the edge of the bed for a moment, carefully took off the blanket, and then got out of bed. "Umm ..." Now she had a situation on her hands. She wasn't quite decent, wearing only the white shirt that was normally worn beneath her vest, and essentials. "Just a minute!"

Raquel ran over to the closet to see if there was anything inside she could wear for the moment, anything besides the clothes she'd practically worn out during their travels. "Mmm ... no, not that either. I just finished making that and it's a little too fancy just for answering the door. Isn't there like a robe or something in here?" There wasn't, and when she realized this, she sighed and turned back toward the bed to grab the blanket.

Finally, after almost a literal minute, Raquel answered the door, having successfully wrapped herself up with the blanket from the bed. "Hello ...?"

"Oh my, did you need a change of clothes? Well, I'll happily see to that, but I'm also here helping this gentleman. You're Ms. Raquel, yes?" The woman asked, stepping aside to let Bert more easily join the conversation.

Garden

"Well, for a change of subject, there is always Ms. Wyght's ... 'interests'," Eugene joked, though, he sounded serious.

"Yes, do help me out over here! I've narrowed down a few things," Athena called out.

"I'll drop you," Morgana threatened.

"Of course you will," Athena sarcastically retorted.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

It's that laugh again... Every time it sounded, a fresh wave of unease washed over the pegasus rider. She checked the first room, but no Raquel yet. The sooner they found her the better, so far as he was concerned, not only so that he could get this chat over with but also because then he wouldn't need the maid's assistance anymore and she could go away and leave him alone. After the maid knocked on the second door, a few, long moments of waiting and looking over his shoulder as subtlety as he could manage elapsed before Raquel's voice, muffled by the walls and door called out.

Oh good... Norbert sighed as his shoulders dropped, relaxing a good deal from the built-up paranoia. It sounded like Raquel was rummaging around, but the wait was more or less over and for that Norbert was truly thankful. Of course, this would only last a minute before Raquel opened the door and revealed that she was wrapped up in a white blanket for some reason or other. He could see her shirt collar under the blanket so maybe she was just cold. Still, he hadn't been expecting this. The maid offered a different explanation, asking Raquel if she needed a change of clothes and then immediately asking if she was Raquel and introducing him as a gentleman.

Well, that was a whirlwind of odd so far as he was concerned, but he didn't really have the opportunity to correct the maid on her terminology -- he was far from a gentleman and he knew it -- with Raquel standing there in at least a shirt and a blanket...which was awkward enough. "Er, sorry if this is a bad time..." he haltingly attempted to articulate as his face reddened some and his eyes locked onto some distant whiff of air, "I just had some things I needed to talk with you about...but it can wait if you, uh...need time to prepare." Oh Merz, what'd I get myself into?

[Snowy_One]

"The egg. It has cracked." said Robin plainly, holding it up for Shadrak to see. "If it is broken, then it is either damaged, or hatching. Raquel should be informed either way, no? Or if not, than someone who knows more about the egg than me."

---

As Tia headed back to look for Weyland, she saw Zach with a maid. Had he been looking for a library as well? She was sure she'd get just another remark telling her she wasn't allowed in without permission if she asked, and he might not even have been looking for it... but it couldn't hurt either. What was the maid going to do? File a report along with the at least four to five others of a girl looking for the library? She was damned with the first report if anything.

"Excuse me, miss." she said to Tamara. "Would you be willing to tell me where the library is? And, if you're gonna tell me that I need permission to tap into the huge drove of knowledge it doubtless contains, where Weyland is now so I can get the permission?"

Edited August 30, 2013 by Snowy_One