Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Toogee]

As Eli followed Tia into the hall, he put his hand on her shoulder to lead her down the hallway. They would walk while they talked.

"So why is this Fire Emblem so important to you?" the rider asked the mage. "I understand you want to do some good, but your talents would be far better appreciated within the university. You'd at least be among your peers and doing good work, not in a mercenary group chasing after a magic rock."

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Before Alphonse could finish his sentence, Jam was already stuffing her face with whipped cream. She thought she grabbed a cake, but this just seemed like a pile of frosting. It was glorious.

"I think it's a dessert first kind of night," Jam replied, cream surrounding her mouth. "It's so good! I'm not even sure that was meant to be taken. I hope I didn't take anyone's order."

Jam looked around to make sure no angry guests were coming for her. She then grabbed Alphy's hand and headed for the buffet.

"You're right though. This may be the last time we eat this good. How many pockets do you have in that jacket? We're gonna fill up while we can! And after we grab something, you think we can look around this place? I bet there's all sorts of secret passages or something."

[Phoenix]

Ballroom

"Enjoy the ball ..." Raquel gloomily echoed. "Right ..." Once they returned to the ballroom, it was clear that something was going on. The dance floor was still in use, but people were forming a couple of lines at a specific table, and neither of the celebrated couple were at the table, so something must have been up.

Down at that table, signups were still taking place. "Bahar ... Bahar ... I know I've come across a Bahar before," Haythem mused aloud. "Oh! I think I remember now. He kind of reminded me of Amon, heheheh." He glanced at Zach when he began speaking and rexian, then, once he had said his piece, put his hand on the mage's shoulder and said, <"'If that's okay?' You want to be her partner for the dance right? So act like it, man."> At the end of the quip, he patted Zach's shoulder once and then removed it. His ... his hand, not Zach's shoulder. Despite his wording it was upbeat advice, and mostly for Faatina's sake.

[Snike]

Raquel seemed to be melancholic, which was unfortunate but to be expected given what she had just been through. Nonetheless, Blake would rather not have his employer remain like that for the rest of the evening. So, after taking in his surroundings, he spoke up.

"Well, then, what would you like to do, milady?" Blake asked, turning to his date for the night. "A bit of dancing, perhaps? Or maybe inquire about the lines?"

[Eail]

Al couldn't hold back a chuckle as Jamilla started on her first desert of the night. "I doubt they'll be waiting for too long even if you did Jam, there's gotta be enough food moving around and still coming out of the kitchen to feed an army."

Letting himself be dragged along by the girl as they headed towards the buffet he was still talking as they went along "Not as many pockets as my normal jacket....scary how many pockets that thing has.... but still enough to cover our needs for a while, give me some cover and I'll see what I can do~" The red head said with a grin on his face, it felt nice to be joking around with Jam again. "I'm sure we can look around and explore a bit, let's just try not to piss of the guys with the pointy swords yeah? My sword can punch through armor but I have the distinct feeling I can't ya know?"

_______

Knowing that the barb was in good nature, a small grin appeared on Zach's face "I'm a mage, be honest, how many of us do you know that actually have backbones? I tend to be more meek around girl's that can kick my ass then drag me to dance anyways." The sage ended with a laugh. "While I know you certainly can do just that, would you care to dance anyways Tina?" he asked, holding out his hand

[Mercakete]

"Hmm..." Gytha began going over ships she'd been on in the past, but in the end, she couldn't recally boarding that particular vessel. Finally, she came back with a smile and informed, "I don't think I've been on that one, but I'm sure it's a good ship." Realizing she was holding up the line, the mariner finished up, "It has a nice name, too. I'm curious about that country now, but I've kept the people behind me waiting long enough. Goodbye!"

And with that she finally got out of line. As she did, she noticed that Haythem and Nadya were in another line and so she decided to just wait for them off to the side rather than returning to the spot they'd been at before.

[-Cynthia-]

The bits about Faatina's brother and Zach's hesitance were all very interesting and all, though Nadya felt they were getting a little off-topic. "I know plenty of mages with backbone- Reign, Synthia, me if ya wanna call me a mage. Meek people tend not to make the best mercenaries," she noted before returning to the matter at hand. "I believe y'all we're plannin' to help us fill out this form?" she asked. Feel a little bad about cuttin' Zach's offer off there, but Faatina did offer to help.

[Ether]

"I wouldn't have bothered to ask you if you wanted to do this too, if I had planned to beat you into submission either way. If you want to dance with me, then we'll dance together, Zach." Faatina replied, somewhat surprised at his little revelation with Haythem... she would have been surprised at his speaking in Rexian, but he seemed the scholarly type as is, so it didn't seem so much of a stretch. Regardless of that, Nadya had mentioned the form again, reminding her of the issue.

"Right. What did you guys want to put down? It asks for you names, I can handle that easily enough... it also wants the name of the dance routine, what instruments you want, and any special instructions you might have."

[Snowy_One]

"It's not just a magic rock though! I don't think you people understand that. This is something that the gods themselves keep an eye on and desire. An object strong and potent enough to potentially start an entire war across the world if it falls into the wrong hands. Not only won't I be safe in a university if such a thing were to happen, but an object like this is the sort of thing you can't just ignore, especially as a mage and scholar of science. It would be like a fisherman denying the ocean because the puddles in the streets are safer. I don't know if Raquel's hands are the right hands or not, but turning my back to this situation in favor of spending the next decade of my life cooped up studying tomes hundreds of other mages have studied helps no one at all. Not me, not Raquel, not the world, no one."

[ReformBlade]

"At 'any' cost?" Jericho repeated, giving a somewhat shocked yet somewhat condescending look towards Malik. "Someone sounds like a zealot! Are you ready to kill anyone, break any law, moral, spiritual or the letter of it? Commit any atrocity that may be needed...? All for this one person? That's some really hardcore devotion, I must admit." He added in, whether to just be a dick or to just drive home a point that was already driven well in.

Aneda sighed, "You know what he meant, no need to be a dick to him about it."

Jericho shrugged, popping in one final cracker.

[Toogee]

Al couldn't hold back a chuckle as Jamilla started on her first desert of the night. "I doubt they'll be waiting for too long even if you did Jam, there's gotta be enough food moving around and still coming out of the kitchen to feed an army."

Letting himself be dragged along by the girl as they headed towards the buffet he was still talking as they went along "Not as many pockets as my normal jacket....scary how many pockets that thing has.... but still enough to cover our needs for a while, give me some cover and I'll see what I can do~" The red head said with a grin on his face, it felt nice to be joking around with Jam again. "I'm sure we can look around and explore a bit, let's just try not to piss of the guys with the pointy swords yeah? My sword can punch through armor but I have the distinct feeling I can't ya know?"

"Good, then they're not going to miss anything if we take a little extra," Jam remarked as they approached the buffet table. It offered a wide range of meats, veggies, breads, and most importantly, desserts. Providing the role of cover, the dancer quickly approached the server to distract him with her order while Alphonse did his thing.

"Excuse me, but what is that?" she asked.

"Ah, that would be roasted duck, our specialty."

"Aw, it looks like a tiny chicken. We don't get many ducks in Rex Avaz. What's it like?"

So began the long line of questioning...

"It's not just a magic rock though! I don't think you people understand that. This is something that the gods themselves keep an eye on and desire. An object strong and potent enough to potentially start an entire war across the world if it falls into the wrong hands. Not only won't I be safe in a university if such a thing were to happen, but an object like this is the sort of thing you can't just ignore, especially as a mage and scholar of science. It would be like a fisherman denying the ocean because the puddles in the streets are safer. I don't know if Raquel's hands are the right hands or not, but turning my back to this situation in favor of spending the next decade of my life cooped up studying tomes hundreds of other mages have studied helps no one at all. Not me, not Raquel, not the world, no one."

Eli sighed. Not only did Tia believe in the legends, she thought it was her duty to attain the item. Convincing her otherwise would be quite the feat.

"This is not a matter of safety, Tia." Eli argued. "For the sake of argument, let's say this Fire Emblem is everything you say it is. Raquel seems to have plenty of help is obtaining it, some of it supernatural if the rumors are to be believed. As important as this might be, that doesn't mean you have to play an active role in it. Certainly not a combat one. You have the potential to be one of the great inventors of our time. I'm not sure the people here see that, or worse."

[Snowy_One]

"Why, of course. You could pick it up now but, alas, unless one of you fancies dancing with their own image there will be naught but ruined painting if you did so ruining the whole point worthless. Don't worry though, I shall keep a stalwart eye upon it, so long as you introduce me to your lovely or noble leader." he said, bending down to kiss Mushy on the back of the hand softly.

---

"They see me as a mere annoyance. I know." said Tia with a heavy sigh. "But that's the way things go. If you're an inventor everyone thinks you're a useless crackpot unless you're in some lab. Oddly, most good inventions don't come from a lab or school. Just some yokel, no offense intended towards anyone in the group, experimenting around to get something done easier and accidentally stumbling on something huge. I guarentee you, the person who invented the wheel didn't set out to revolutionize the world, just to transport several watermelons easier.

Regardless though, I know it's dangerous. I'm not an idiot. Basic Alchemy. Young mage girl combined with an axe equals a dead mage girl. I don't want to die, so I will be sticking to the backlines and offering supporting aid mainly if I go along with you. However, even if you do have enough people, even if you don't really need me, I would be selling myself horribly short if I didn't tag along and at least try to learn all I could. If there are people who know more about the emblem than me, I'm passing up a once in a lifetime opportunity. If I am the best about learning about the emblem, I'm depriving you of your capabilities on a world-changing event simply because I was afraid."

[Phoenix]

Ballroom

"Honest?" Haythem repeated, then he said, "I'm more intimidated by people who can set things on fire with their minds than those who can't ... honestly. See, I win most of my brawls. The Commander trained me well, heheh." Next came the actual signing up, since Faatina was ready to begin jotting down the information for them. "Ah, well that's going to be a challenge. Oh, I know. I'll give the musicians the instructions myself ... there's no way it would all fit down on this sheet, heheh. What we're going to be doing is similar to the <Buzzed Bachelors> ... erm ... slightly drunk bachelors, I guess is how it goes in common? Just put whatever you want down for that; they won't know the dance by name anyway. For our names, put Nadya and myself down for it ... oh and Gytha too? She wanted to do this with us, right?"

Meanwhile by the paintings, "Yeah, sure, we'll make sure you get to meet her," Shadrak said. Then came the kiss on the hand, which he reminded himself was probably standard procedure and not him making another pass at Mushirah. It could have been both but he didn't want to overreact. The thought of being shoved aside was extremely unpleasant.

On the second floor, Raquel was becoming extremely nervous all of a sudden. "W-we should see what that line is about, yeah."

"The princess is holding a little dance competition ... all in good fun, of course," a waiter said as he made his way by them with a tray of drinks. That was both helpful and unhelpful, at least where Raquel was concerned.

Feeling a little pressured all of a sudden, she said, "Sheesh, am I supposed to dance no matter what now?"

Sparks

"I would rather succeed in my mission and be punished for my crimes than fail completely just because of some minor obstacle. Unfortunately, we probably are going to fail in the end, thanks to Amon being in charge," Malik replied bitterly.

Amon immediately stood up and slammed his hands down on the table. "What was I supposed to do, Malik, steal it from Raquel?!"

<"Idiot!> If you weren't willing to take it then you shouldn't have stayed with them in the first place! What is going to happen the next time we run into a person with an emblem piece? If they are anything like Raquel, what are you going to do, let them keep the emblem but follow them around wasting time again? If that's the case then we've already failed, thanks to you."

Amon sighed, letting go of a great deal of his anger and energy. "I don't ... really understand why she put me in charge ... and I don't know what I'll do if a situation like that comes up again. All I know is that I didn't give up before, and I'm not going to give up now."

[Snike]

"Well, that is usually what one does at a ball," Blake responded, as Raquel rhetorically asked if she was supposed to dance. "Though, if you want, we could find a seat and watch the competition, instead."

[roymbrog]

“It sounds like this place has been good to you. That project sounds cool, but, I don’t need any help hitting harder,” Kat replied smirking and flexed her bicep.

The question of how she came to be with the group brought up some painful memories, but the wyvern rider tried not to let it show. “I actually ended up with them by accident at first. The Neviskotian rebels were attacking a port they were trying to leave, and I was over open water with my wyvern. It was either land on their ship or risk getting shot down by the rebels. Later on they hired me, and I’ve been around since.

“The group is… well, I’m not really sure to be honest. There’s a lot of supernatural stuff going on. Raquel had a piece of the fire emblem, and there were people after her for it. They… actually got it, and they still have her father. Things are kind of a mess. I’m not sure what we’re doing now, but the pay is good, and I needed the money,” Kat finished, shrugging. There were more reasons why she was sticking around as well, but those were things she’d rather not bring up with someone she’d just met.

[Eail]

Alphonse, like Jamilla, was captivated by all of the various foodstuffs available to choose from. All these different meats, fruits, breads, and deserts. It was absolutely overwhelming to think how much something like this would cost.

'Pff, nobles, like they would know anything about cost or going hungry.'

Grabbing himself a rather hearty share, Al waited for Jam to make her decisions.

_____

Giving a shrug, Zach replied to Haythem "Everyone already knows I'm weird, maybe we just didn't know how weird before." Seeing that Faatina was busy filling out the sheet for Nadya and Haythem, Zach grabbed one for himself "Want me to go ahead and fill out our's, Tina?"

[ReformBlade]

"If you're so certain you're going to fail anyway, you still gonna commit atrocities if need be? Seems to be completely out of malice at that point, which doesn't, in my humble opinion, seem to be the first goal you should go for. I'd personally try to cut losses and get the hell out of there, not stick around waiting to screw someone over." Jericho mused, throwing more simple philosophy Malik's way. "'If you can't live with them, then at least do them no harm. For theirs is already a hard lot' or something to that effect. Of course that assumes the other person or persons is actually having troubles of their own but hopefully you get the picture."

Aneda freaked out for a second when Amon hit the table, understandably angry. "Hey now." She started, somewhat weakly before gaining full composure. "Can't we all just play nice? If Aisha put Amon here in charge, it must have been for a reason. Whether or not it's apparent to you is kind of irrelevant. Plus, aren't you like... supposed to worship her and just sort of do what she tells you? That's the vibe I got. Going that route I highly doubt she'd be okay with you being such a dick to her chosen guy. it's one thing to call him out on something he's done, it's another to say he's single handedly screwed it all up. Can you do a better job? Were you picked for the job specifically?" she ended her rant with some rhetorical questions, both of which she completely meant as jabs.

Mushirah blushed, not used to all this attention but enjoying it all the same. "Heehee...I'll see what I can do on that end, sir." She said with some confidence. She had no idea how Raquel would react to the news but it would be up to her to make the final decision no matter what, all Mushirah could do was introduce them, if Shadrak didn't anyway. There seemed to be things happening, something to do with DANCING and merriment, both things Mushirah was okay with, the former she couldn't exactly do that well but the latter was a great thing in concept and practice. then teh food pangs hit, nto that she was super hungry so much as there's a lot of food and she'd like some of that.

Edited November 6, 2013 by ReformBlade

[Phoenix]

Ballroom

"I ... I don't know how to dance," Raquel began to explain. "There isn't a single dance or move that even comes to mind." She not only felt embarrassed for coming without what was nearly a prerequisite, but also that she was just detracting from Blake's experience at this point. If they weren't going to dance, then about all they could do was talk or observe other people, and as far as she was concerned, the latter seemed pretty boring. "I'm sorry about that. Let me try to relax and then maybe something will come to me."

I could teach you some dances if you'd like, Hypnos offered.

"Now Hypnos is offering to teach me dance moves ... go figure," she said some strange mix of a grimace and grin. She couldn't very well accomplish both, but she was still a little sad about her situation and also a little amused by Hypnos' random offer. That's not what I meant.

The offer is on the table, just the same, Discovery.

Meanwhile over in Shadrak's mind, Okay, it's now or never ... now or never ... "Mushirah? Do you think I could sign up to be a judge really quick? They said there were only five spots so I'm probably already too late, but just in case ...-after that, whatever you want to do is fine. Were you hungry or anything ...?"

Main Entrance

"The Lieutenant Colonel sent for a box and some anti-toxin ...?" asked a soldier who was carrying a relatively small crate with some antidote vials in it. Miguel had already gone inside, but it seemed he was no longer needed for this snake business.

"Do those even work on snake venom?" Nadine inquired. Since there was a difference between venom and poison, and the antidotes they had were military issued in order to address a wide range of toxins in the blood, it seemed like a valid inquiry. Perhaps a fifty-fifty chance of it covering snake venom? She wasn't really sure either way.

"Iii uhhh ... I'll let a more knowledgeable person answer that," the soldier replied, setting the box down near Cecelia, taking the lid off and transferring the vials from out of the box to the ground beside it two by two.

"Nope! Our antidotes can't treat snake venom, even though some people think otherwise. They probably got that idea because people take anti-toxins and get a healing treatment at the same time, so it seems like there's a correlation. If this snake bit someone and they only relied on one of those bottles of anti-toxin, they would be feeling terrible in no time at all," Amber spoke up confidently, and ... morbidly. "The Lieutenant Colonel should have sent for a healer and a restore staff instead, heehee. Small mistake. Don't worry, though, this viper looks pretty young."

Dining Hall

"You don't understand, I have no intention of letting it come to failure; I'll do what I have to, but not until I'm certain Amon's failed us. I have no intention of harming anyone unless it's necessary. You speak of 'atrocities', I speak of stolen goods. If it turns into something worse than that, so be it."

"So you're just waiting for Amon to screw up again before acting out on your own," Fizza realized. "Daring, really~ Aisha might even forgive you if you get results without causing too much of a mess."

<"It doesn't matter if she forgive me, so long as she has what she seeks,"> Malik muttered. To Aneda, he said, "Do you have any idea what the others would do to Amon if they knew he put Raquel's interests above our queens? It has been kept a secret from most for just that reason. My treatment of him is brotherly compared to what he would receive from the rest of the Sancturans. Amon has indeed 'singlehandedly screwed it all up', abandoning his duty for that woman. He was the only one out here last time. We know what to expect this time, and we have no excuse to return without an emblem piece for her. I especially won't let that happen simply because Amon doesn't have the courage to steal it from anyone but this 'organization' you people keep fighting with."

"The organization is our only lead, Malik. We have nowhere else to look," Amon irritably clarified.

<When another emblem piece shows up, one in some innocent person's hands, he won't be able to use that excuse, anymore. Then he'll have to explain why that person's wishes are more important than Lady Aisha's.>

[ReformBlade]

"Hey, I speak of atrocities because that's included in 'any cost'. don't blame me for your blabbering mouth, kid." Jericho fired back before letting himself ease out of the conversation since it seemed to be heading to places and he didn't want to spark the fires but watch them in case they get out of hand.

"Not gonna lie, if you're so damned adamant about this mission that you're gonna sit here and berate everyone around you, including the guy you're supposed to listen to, why didn't you tell them about his actions?" Aneda asked, definite tones of agitation in her voice, but visibly she was looking calm as could be. "Seems to me that you just kind of want to sit back and yell at everyone and not do anything helpful if that's the case. If you really gave as much of a damn as you go on about, you'd have said something, any sort of 'bro code' aside. Personally, I have my own interpretations on that regard..." Taking a moment to pop some more chocolate in her mouth, Aneda gave her nerves a break before going back at it. "Shouldn't you be looking to help out a team member instead of threatening and dragging them down? Hell, the way I've looked at teamwork is basically trying to make everyone else look good."

Mushirah nodded to Shadrak, "Yes, I'm somewhat hungry but nothing life threatening. If you want to go do that, please, by all means, go do it! I think it sounds fun! though now I'm curious as to how much knowledge of dancing you have, but that can wait until after you've done your thing."

[Phoenix]

Ballroom

Knowledge of dancing ... not much, really ... I just want to be at the judge table. It's all in good fun so why not? "Okay, then. I'll be right back," Shadrak replied, hurrying over to the lines since it seemed like Mushirah wanted to stay behind for now. He felt awkward leaving her, especially by Alex, but he really did plan to come right back, gods willing.

Over at the actual lines he found that there were only two of them, and they were getting rather small. He carefully scanned the table to see which line if any he should be getting into. With only five spots for judges, he feared the man in front of what would have been a third line was a bad sign. Still, better to make sure than be apart of a self fulfilling prophecy. "Excuse me, are sign ups for judge still available?"

"Of course. You're not the first one to ask that. We've got six people signed up currently but the princess gets to decide who gets the honors," the man explained.

"Oh really? I guess that's a little better than first come first served since some people wouldn't have even had a chance," Shadrak mused. During his self-talk, the nobleman passed the sheet to the front of the table. Shadrak finally noticed and chuckled a bit. "Right, let's do this, then. No going back, now." Once he'd filled in the particulars, he slid the sheet back and went over to the other potential judges when pointed that way.

So far only two of them have stuck around, this pretentious looking guy with the cloak and this blonde woman, Shadrak eyed the two, hopefully temporary, rivals.

"Good evening, fellow judge," Simon greeted.

"Evening," Shadrak replied blankly. He glanced at Carmen but she didn't return it. Does he want me to wait here with them? I would, but I really should get back to Mushirah ...

"Where is your date, good sir? Pardon my rudeness but curiosity has overwhelmed me once again."

"Over by the paintings," Shadrak answered while looking that way. "Are you here with ..." he nudged his head toward Carmen while he was sure she wasn't paying attention.

Simon chuckled ... pretentiously, and replied, "No, no, afraid not. I'm here with another, but she's stepped out for the moment. I can't speak for our lovely lady in red, however." Not surprisingly, Carmen didn't even chime in after that.

You'd think more couples would be signing up as judges, but I guess not. Maybe there's something about judging couples that appeals to singles? Or maybe I'm reading too much into this. I mean his date only just stepped out and this girl might not be here alone. I'm not alone here either, for that matter.

Dining Hall

"Because they might have killed him by mistake," Malik quickly and angrily explained. "I couldn't care less about the interpretations of an outsider. Spreading news that the person Lady Aisha sent to retrieve the fire emblem, failed in that duty because he felt sympathy for a traveling merchant and decided to follow her around like a dog would have forced the maidens to lock Amon away for his own safety. Amon is not a Sancturan, and so all the favor he's been shown time and again means that stunts like this are not acceptable."

"Except to Aisha at least. She seems pretty nice compared to the rest of you Sancturans. Won't be sure until I see Haythem's bad side, though. That little scene in the city doesn't ... doesn't count," Fizza mused aloud.

"Our jobs have nothing to do with making each other 'look good'. Reminding Amon not to make the same mistakes again is far more useful than praising him for nothing."

"Is there any point in talking about this? No one's convincing anyone of anything," Amon said, sounding a little tired.

[Mercakete]

Cecelia's first order of business was to transfer the viper from around her neck to inside the box and then to shut said box. Her second order of business was to cock an eyebrow at Amber. "Have you been studying snakes recently?"

[Snowy_One]

At last, Alex saw her. The young maiden, pink of hair and looking exactly as described, standing atop on the balcony.

"Well, Alex, it's now or never. She's a pretty looking woman, but she's also someone you want to work for, if only because it means less bandit-bribing whenever you travel between cities. Keep it engaged, but professional... Now if only I knew how to do that." he thought to himself before taking a gulp and deep breath, then approached up the stairs and to the balcony.

"Ahhh... Would you be the lady in charge of the lovely mercenary group that employs that charming young pair?" he asked, trying to sound as charming as possible as he bowed to her, gesturing towards Mushy and Shadrak as he did so. "I am Alex, the painter hired, and I would like to talk to you professionally. However, I would not be a gentleman if I did not first ask you to dance."

Edited November 7, 2013 by Snowy_One

[Ether]

<"Buzzed bachelors>, huh? That actually sounds like a lot of fun! They said that groups capped out at five, right? Maybe Zach and I could go with you guys, things like that are more fun the more people there are... I don't know if he knows it, but... we hadn't figured out what we were going to do yet anyway, haha" Faatina replied with a smile. With any luck, this might turn out a lot less awkward than she had been fearing.

[Phoenix]

Ballroom

Just as things were about to interesting, they got ironic instead. Not only had Raquel not expected to be approached by anyone but the wrathites or others within the group, the man calling himself Alex asked her for a dance. She knew it would be rude to turn down his offer, but there was Blake to consider, as well as the fact that she didn't know how to dance or have any love for the activity in general. Maybe I should ask if we could just skip to whatever he wants to talk about and overlook the dance thing?

Go for it, Discovery.

"Professionally? What did you want to talk about, exactly?" Raquel replied, keeping herself composed despite her situation.

Meanwhile on the first floor, a new youth group was forming. "That sounds like a good idea," Haythem agreed. "Haven't ever heard of outsiders-err-people living outside of Sanctuary doing it, but that's fine. There's plenty of time to practice and get the basic moves memorized. It's too fun to forget, honestly, heheh."

Main Entrance

"Nope! I just remember random stuff like that from back in school, and I make it a point to know what's in the stuff we get issued to eat and drink," Amber explained. Despite it being 'random', she seemed awfully proud of it.

"I wonder if that thing has a name," Nadine pondered.

[Snowy_One]

"Why, my dear, it is quite simple. I have heard from some of your employees that you are a woman who requires the services of various mercenaries. Getting the chance to travel with a large group, painting the world, and being safe, would be something of immense value to me. Don't think I am a mere noble looking to buy passage either. I am a healer. One merely looking for some protection as of now. If possible, I would join you as well, especially since there seems to be so many lovely women and adoring couples to paint."

[-Cynthia-]

"Sounds good to me, hope y'all are quick learners though. We ain't got much time before showtime," Nadya added.