Vast Worlds

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/23/2016

A high, projected sigh filled the halls of Fostisia's finest hotel. Persephone had endured hours on end of marching. Sleeping on the dirt, like a common beast. Even holding her tongue (for the most part) and remaining gracious in the backwater dump that was Freyland. And yet the supposed luxury around her was even more of an injury than everything leading up to it. The smells were wrong! The food was ill-prepared! The beds were decent, and certainly better than a field, but even needing to make such a comparison was unacceptable. Was this really the best Arcias had to offer? The sighing girl was visibly disgusted by it all, as she continued pacing. Perhaps she'd been foolish to expect anything less from a faux nation so polluted with treason. An atmosphere like this, she thought, would water down any man's soul.(edited)

Appa | Very Lewd-12/23/2016

Alexandra marched through the halls. She was dead set on inspecting every detail of the establishment the group would be staying in. The noble wouldn't rest until she'd personally seen to the task. She'd heard whispers of corruption and treachery. Queen Isabella would be none too happy if, after trusting her the guard the refuge prince, she let something so easily preventable befall Finn. She wore her regular gold trimmed, white metal plate. Her blades sat at her hip, one above the other with that side's hand resting on the eldritch blade's hilt. Alexandra's array of staves was fastened in a horizontal holder on her back, secured just above where her spine would meet her pelvis. Her ear turned at a rather exaggerated noise. What's this? "You there, soldier," Alexandra stared on, expressionlessly, "Not enough to do?"

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/23/2016

"...Miss Alexandra." Persephone slowly turned to face the officer, her sugar-coated Terror Blade dangling freely from the side of her maroon-shaded skirt. The branching blade made a proper scabbard for it all but impossible. "I'm afraid I hadn't been told we were already departing." Her own expression was a curt frown.(edited)

Appa | Very Lewd-12/23/2016

"We are not. I am simply patrolling this establishment. The whispers of dissent warrant it," Alexandra shakes her head once, "Though, your rather loud expression distracted me."

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/23/2016

"Oh, I see..." She looked disdainfully at the flimsy, over-presented walls, echoing her every breath like some kind of opera hall. "The structure here doesn't do us any favors in security, does it?"

Appa | Very Lewd-12/23/2016

"Right. So I am patrolling to set my suspicions to rest. Have you noticed anything out of place?" Alexandra nodded once.

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/23/2016

The banished bride-to-be turned grim at the query, and her lashes fluttered with sincere concern. "It pains me to say it, but I've noticed that nearly everything here is out of place." She pointed up behind Alexandra to a row of paintings over the windows. On the left-most painting was a madly grinning carved pumpkin, with broad, flat strokes that made it seem to glow. At the far end, a tightly-defined painting of an light-enchanted tree in the snow. And in between them, a bright, realistic painting of a turkey indoors. "It's just madness!"(edited)

Appa | Very Lewd-12/23/2016

"I fail to see the problem. Would you care to elaborate?" Alexandra remained still, looking over her shoulder.

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/23/2016

Persephone gave an exasperated huff. "Can't you see? None of it fits! None of it matches! They've tried to pair Barentian brushwork with Celanthian sensibilities, and..." Frustrated at Alexandra's apparent lack of awareness, the noble clicked her heel into the floor. "It's simply barbaric!"

Appa | Very Lewd-12/23/2016

"Well, excuse The Archduke for providing a roof for us at no cost. Obviously he could've done better," Alexandra sighed. It's like I'm back home and attending a ball. At least then I could've commanded her to stop complaining.

December 24, 2016

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/24/2016

Persephone crossed her arms. "Yet even you have your suspcions about these arrangements."

Appa | Very Lewd-12/24/2016

"I do, yes. I'm trained to be unreasonably suspicious however," Alexandra conceded the point.

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/24/2016

Persephone's eyes widened a little more at Alexandra's candor. "You're a soldier of Damona, correct? I've never heard of that land's people abandoning their liege like this...it's absolutely disgraceful."

Appa | Very Lewd-12/24/2016

"Excuse me?" Alexandra broke her even, passive tone into a grating, hostile one, "You think I enjoy being away from my post? That I did so voluntarily? I was ordered to tag along with this rag tag group of misfits. And you dare call me disgraceful?"

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/24/2016

"Ah?! I've said nothing of the sort!" Persephone letsout a pained gasp, clutching at her chest while her other hand fanned out to the side. "You've proven yourself a capable enough attendant to His Highness. At the very least you've managed not to turn tail, like the others." Persephone enunciated harshly, sharply rebuking those who'd parted ways with the prince until now. Her fingers curled with disgust at the misfits that she, too, was bound by duty to serve alongside. "I mean no insult to you, nor your liege, Alexandra. I know little of your child-queen, but that she hasn't yet found herself at war with her own subjects." Persephone's eyes broke away, meeting with those of the grinning pumpkin for a moment before lowering to the chintzy carpet of the hotel's hall. "At a time like today, that's practically a compliment."

Appa | Very Lewd-12/24/2016

"I apologize. I jumped to conclusions," Alexandra sighed, "I misunderstood your intent. My work has made me into a pessimist, I hope you can ignore my rudeness."

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/24/2016

The girl's expression darkened. "No, I understand." Persephone ran an anxious hand through her pomegranate-colored hair, its hue inherited from a long line of Floribian traitors. "It's only natural that you'd come to face me, after what befell the Archduke." Her stance became straight and refined, as if receiving a formal inspection. "Your masters trained you well."

Appa | Very Lewd-12/24/2016

"It's been a while since I've had masters beyond her majesty," Alexandra stated, "And my primary concern lies with keeping the refugee prince safe, I must unfortunately treat everything else as secondary. Even myself."

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/24/2016

"Then your will runs alongside mine. I swear it fair and terrible, Miss Alexandra: I am not my father. And I intend to fulfill my duty to Prince Phineas." Her words were sharper than they ought to be, either overconfident or overcompensating.(edited)

Appa | Very Lewd-12/24/2016

"I know not of your father, sorry to say. I rarely trouble myself with outside affairs unless they come to Damona," Alexandra blinked once, "But I thank you for your pledge of loyalty nonetheless."

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/24/2016

Confusion flickered in the Cawdor heir's face. "It's..no trouble at all. Perhaps this place makes pessimists of all of us."

Appa | Very Lewd-12/24/2016

"I suppose it might," Alexandra kept her usual deadpan, "As long as it doesn't make corpses out of us."

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/24/2016

Persephone gave a little giggle. "We've little to worry about, with curates as capable as you. At least, when it comes to these Arcians."

Appa | Very Lewd-12/24/2016

"Hm. I admit it odd that we stay in a separate building. Back home, the Queen would host the group in the castle itself," Alexandra nodded.

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/24/2016

"Oh, that's an excellent point.." Persephone turns slightly away. "Perhaps he's trying to keep a safe distance from his guests?"

Appa | Very Lewd-12/24/2016

"I hope nothing nefarious, whatever the reason," Alexandra responded, "But with this group's luck, I can never be certain."

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/24/2016

"We've come so far, though..." Persephone walked out towards an arched window. "I never even imagined that I'd see so much of the world."

Appa | Very Lewd-12/24/2016

"I never did either. I would've been content to stay home in the castle until I pass, in all honesty," Alexandra admitted, "It pains me, being so far from the Queen's side."

December 25, 2016

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/25/2016

"Such a sweet sorrow, isn't it? Freedom..." Another sigh, but gentler than the one that started their exchange, as Persephone laid her arms across the windowsill.(edited)

Appa | Very Lewd-12/25/2016

"Right. The world is so vast, it's an overwhelming task to try and experience it all," Alexandra nodded.

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/25/2016

"And yet with every new sight, the longing only grows...does it not?"

Appa | Very Lewd-12/25/2016

"My home is only just across the lake. It takes all I have not to run to the docks," Alexandra nods once more.

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/25/2016

"Oh, it all must feel like such folly!" She turns back from the window, sudden distress in her eyes. "All this time, all this blood spilt....For what?"

December 27, 2016

Appa | Very Lewd-12/27/2016

"I cannot answer that. I simply wish it over soon, if only to return to my queen's side," Alexandra shakes her head once, back and forth.

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/27/2016

"And I as well." To Ethysia... Persephone walked gently past the guardswoman, stopping just before the hallway turned. "May your desires be quenched, warrior of Demona. May valor prevail."(edited)

Appa | Very Lewd-12/27/2016

Alexandra nods, "Farewell." She walks on, continuing her patrol.

Kwak | Gaiden Hype-12/27/2016

===END RP===