Forum:Chapter 1B

		Rivera - Meno Mosso
		All around her was a mess. Zedanni's daymarket keepers rolled their goods in lindweave cloths and tied them with woven cords. They slung the loads onto their backs like industrious ants carrying leaves. As soon as one was gone, a nightmarket keeper immediately plopped down his own picnic spread... thus the population was an endless river. Women wore colorful wrapdresses and midriff tops decorated in metals and seashells, their hair piled elaborately on their heads. Men wore breeches and pants, often shirtless, with sashes of every color at their waists. Everyone was merry. It was time to celebrate last day of the year and the first day of the next. Rivera was a but crow among colorful chickens. She sported a combination of non-islander designs and light leather armor that must have been nearly 20 years old. The chaps belted to her hips looked soft and well-worn if not well-loved. As she walked, she adjusted the strap that held a giant poster tube to her back, annoyed at the noise and the cheer. In this night-time convention of flowers, she was the only speck of dirt that showed through the garden... and she was completely fine with being dirt. A force yanked her back. Rivera spun, hands up and ready to fight despite she had no gloves on. A young boy about the height of her thighs tugged on one of her long, black pigatails. He couldn't have been more than three years old. Against a simple green shirt, he clutched a ripe pineapple against his shirt front. Some brilliant idiot had carven eyes and a smile into the juicy thing and the sweet nectar ran all over his hands, making him sticky. She pulled her hair briskly from his grasp, annoyance gleaming in her eyes. The last thing she needed was a brat bothering her. "Uuu...uwaaaaaah!" Heads turned toward her and towered onto her. Rivera spun. "Don't cry. That's my hair. MINE. Haven't you learned to not touch other people's things?!" "UWAAAAAAAH!" "No, hey! Stop that!" Promply, she covered the child's mouth to muffle the even louder crying. The mushy, sticky feeling on her palm told her he must have been eating something sweet. She flung him away as soon as she had gotten a hold of him, letting out a yelp of disgust. Snickers jingled around her like the little bells the children wore around their wrists and ankles. "Agh! Just-- go! Go find your parent or older sibling or something. I don't have time to play with you." "Adunwababayiss..." "Huh?" Rivera glared. "Stop hiccupping and speak properly-- hey, wait--!" "UWAAAAAAAH!" Rivera ground her teeth, her patience thin as a hair. Parents were useless creatures. This kid's couldn't even keep their eyes on him. Forcing her anger into nothingness, she took in a deep breath, filling her lungs with the rapidly cooling air of the evening. The ground was still warm with the day when she knelt down and put her face mere inches from the child's face. "Be quiet." A soft, firm growl rumbled from deep within her chest. She could smell the candy on his mouth and sense the hairs on his body prickle, scared into silence. At this distance, not even he could miss her heterochroma. The gold and blue eyes rooted him to the spot with aggressive authority. "One day, you will be a man." She said. "All children must grow up. It is only a matter of sooner or later, and then there will be more important things to cry about than getting lost." Digging around in her pants pockets, she found a slightly faded pink handkerchief and thrust it at him. "Use your own mind to solve your problems. Not everyone is willing to help you and some people will even hurt you by pretending to help you. People are not your friends.." Rivera rose to her feet and turned around, leaving him without another word. To her, children were just troublesome creatures. The strong will survive to become adults. The weak will flounder and find their deaths. Surely the smart ones will understand while the stupid ones deserve death for the betterment of mankind. Such was her belief. Yet she knew well that she, too, was saved once. The fifth street west of the market, she turned with great relief. There was a water pump behind the rendezvous point, usually used to fill buckets for horses and dogs. Rivera eagerly grabbed the handle... but it was too heavy to push or pull down. She finally raised a leg and stepped on it to get the water going, happily rinsing the sticky child-gunk off her fingers. "I can handle myself fine." She said to Akila, indignation written across her cheeks in a blush. Even though he had said nothing yet, she continued to defend herself. "It just took some time to catch the stupid swallow, okay? Here." Once her hands were dry, Rivera reached into her pocket and handed him a piece of rolled parchment. To anyone else, it looked like a letter from an aging father to his son bidding tidings for the new year. Intricate pinholes in the paper, hidden from a first glance by the ink, denoted a completely different message... one that only Akila could decode. "Anyway. I'm hungry. You got anything to eat or should I go kill something?"

		Adrian - Coloratura
		Pineapples. So many violated pineapples. Adrian enjoyed the lunar festivities, but seeing all this mangled fruit irritated him greatly. It would be impossible to properly peel and core the pineapples with such deep and aesthetically crude incisions – did these people actually want to eat? The first fruit stand he passed by housed two friendly-looking men hanging up paper lanterns in a myriad of colors, sending out rays of light that danced across the vestments of the throngs of people arriving for the nighttime festivals. Mercifully, their pineapples appeared to be unscathed. "One peeled and cored pineapple, please,” he asked the nearest vendor, who abandoned his current lamp at the chance of a sale, snatching the proffered coins and taking a knife to the nearest ripe specimen. "Excellent, yes, quite. And would you like a face-" "No. I’m not five years old. Or a terrible person." The vendor was wise enough to not comment further on other novelties he could perform, and Adrian snatched the plate of pineapple strips from him with greater fervor. Maneuvering between fellow festival-goers while eating pineapple was a difficult task, as Adrian soon found out. After the latest “Oi, watch your girth or I’ll have me filleting knife at it,” he found an empty spot on a curved stone bench to enjoy his pineapple on. As he put the first chunk to his lips, he felt a tinge of loneliness. I'm not looking forward to the Alderich Open House at the Lunar Clock Tower without a guest this year... He shook himself out of the wallowing with a consoling piece of pineapple. There wasn't time to think of relationships past, not with the introductions that could be made this year at the Open House. The plate was nearly half eaten when a small child approached him, another solitare in a sea of animated festival-goers. “My pineapple is broken,” she sputtered, holding up a miraculously intact individual that seemed to be one-third each peeled, cored, and eaten. “Can I have some of yours?” “Uh…” Adrian hesitated, his mouth half full, until the girl began to pout. “Sure, just…. Just take it.” The girl’s blue eyes sparkled with joy as she gleefully seized the plate and ran off to whom Adrian assumed must be her poor excuses of parents. Doesn’t anyone know how to cut a pineapple around here? Guess I know where to look for work if Alderice doesn’t work out… He laughed off the thought – really, Alderice was lucky to have him - and set off away from the concession area towards the Lunar Clock Tower. Adrian guessed that the opening celebrations would begin soon, judging from the throngs of people heading in the same direction. Good thing I finished that pineapple off early, he thought with a touch of satisfaction, using his height to push through the crowds for a better view of the terrace in front of the tower. Along the way, he jostled a black-cloaked figure, elicting a small, feminine meep of apology that faded as she scuttled off. "Sorry," he called, not really putting much sympathy into the word. He then promptly ran into a dark-vested man whose glasses tilted dangerously as he swerved to avoid further contact with Adrian’s shoulder. The offended this time did not take his bumping so lightly, glaring at Adrian and muttering a low “Watch it,” before moving in the same direction as the cloaked woman. Adrian was glad not to have any more trouble that night, for as soon as the brown-haired man departed, the fountain in the center of the terrace was illuminated in multi-colored beams of light shining from the second floor of the clock tower. He looked in wonder at the veranda from which the light shone, along which workers held curved mirrors in front of torchfires sprinkled with an array of salts. In the center of the veranda towered a marble statue of a woman in flowing robes, holding one arm out towards the fountain and the other bent upwards as if grasping at the stars. Adrian felt a pang of disappointment as he made out the uniform silver solder of the arch and wall behind the statue – another suggestion, another opportunity, lost. People cheered as a group of a dozen or so vocalists, resplendent in silver bell-sleeved tops and cerulean-tinged trousers and dresses, appeared from the tower’s main doors. As chimes started to sound from the tower, they circled the fountain, each standing in a differently colored pool of light. Hands outstretched to the sky, full moon emerging fully from the horizon, they broke into song: Lady, you have moved upon the waters You have sung in the dance of moon and wave And on this night you have called us sons and daughters Make us people of a new year and your name The chimes let out a final peal, the singers bowed, and all eyes turned upwards to the Lunar Clock Tower, where the colored fires had been extinguished in favor of an ensemble of candles that highlighted the features of the statue. From behind it, a man in a sharp black suit and graying hair emerged to further cheers from the crowd below. He called out from the porch in an energetic voice contradicting the severity of his dress: “As the Provinchial Lord of Zedanni, it is my pleasure to welcome you to this year’s Lunar Turning! Let the festivities begin!”

		Shirayuri - The pure white lily in the golden light.
		The cloaked woman looked around the festival, excited that she had some freedom at last. "At least... soon." She looked behind her at the dark-clad man with glasses, still accompanying her, still watching. Always watching. "Wh...what?" He said in response to her intent stare. "Oh, nothing."' She gave him a friendly yet charming smile that reached to her golden eyes. The man turned his head the other way, returning nothing but silence. He had been like this since they first met, rarely talking or looking at her. "I feel nothing from him except the sense that he wants to chain me down... to keep me in a cage like father did. It's been a month since I was in Zedanni and yet I still feel caged... Maybe not as at home, but to journey to a new land, I wish I had the independence that would accompany it." "Okay, if this is going to work, I have to time it right..." the cloaked girl thought to herself. "I shall cut my chains tonight." Walking past people, she made it a point to look straight at them, then down at their feet. "He will do the job..." she thought as she approached a shirtless man about the same size as her dark-vested shadow. When he walked past her, she moved her foot in a quick and short motion, tripping him causing shirtless man to fall on her shadow. "The hell.....hey, you little bitch! Did you trip me just now!?" "You should watch your tongue. Just because you can't stand on your two feet doesn't mean you should go blaming a lady," the man with glasses said, pushing the fallen stranger off of him. He cracked his knuckles, ready to protect his charge. "Calling me a liar, you bastard!?" The shirtless guy punched the dark-clad man in the face, leading into an all-out brawl. The cloaked woman ran away quickly as the fight broke out, thinking to herself: "Sorry Oliver, I didn't mean for you to get into a fight. I wanted to be free tonight, and I hope you can forgive me..." She ran to where she was far enough away from Oliver, and looking around, spotted the Lunar Clock Tower. Walking up to it, she joined the huge crowd of people watching the large fountain. The vocalists around it were singing a song she hadn't heard since she was a child. The song brought back memories of her mother, the only person that had let her be a child and didn't shelter her from the world. She started to cry quietly under her hood so that no one else could see, remembering a mother that was no longer with her. Now, she was stuck with people that just wanted to keep her from the world. As her stomach started to growl, she realized she had yet to eat. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she began to look around for a food stand. As soon as she started to search, she found one - a man selling Cipicarsh. "Hello there miss, what can I get you? A plate's worth is one bronze and one silver coin." She looked into her bag of coins, but only had bronze ones. "Oh... I'm sorry sir, I only have bronze coins..." She looked at the vendor with golden eyes, filled with disappointment and reddened from her earlier crying. "Damn, you know... I'll give you a discount, just give me two bronze coins. I couldn't live with myself if a pretty lady like you went hungry because of me." "Re...really? Thank you! It's so nice meeting kind people like you!" She pulled out two coins and gave it to the man in exchange for the plate of Cipicarsh. He also received a bright smile for his trouble. The girl walked off, finding the food delicious. "It reminds me of the food at home..." She walked around only to end up lost in the festival. As she finished the Cipicarsh she began to think she made a mistake running from her guard.I need someone else to show me around... I wish I could do things by myself. She walked up to a tall guy wearing a green vest who looked strangely familiar. "Excuse me sir, can I ask for a favor?"

		Oliver - Protecting a Foreign Scribe
		The man in the dark clothes continues his little brawl, making some of the other festival-goers back out of the way before he finally managed to pin his opponent to the ground. Only then did he looked around the crowd, seeing that the brawl has drawn some attention. He looked back down on his downed opponent. "Now if I were you, sir, I'd run along now before you cause more trouble and you get both of us locked up. Do I make myself clear?" He addressed the man as cooly as he could. The man quickly scurried away, pushing past the crowd as the man in dark clothes looked on. His apprenticeship under a decorated military officer must have payed off. Then again, all that training has kept more than a dozen assailants at bay in the past month. He was Oliver Black. A biologist and fellow trainee. The one man assigned by Thales to look after another trainee - a girl who came from a foreign country of Izakami, where she was also a princess - Shirayuri Konohana. Guarding someone as important as her could be a stressing and demanding job, yet Oliver took it all in stride and has been keeping his insecurities in check for the last month he's been with her. But now Shirayuri had disappeared, probably behind his back and on her little rebellious side again. She hadn't tried running off whenever Thales was around, though, most likely out of respect. If only he had a bit of Thales' intimidation would he be able to keep her on the reigns. It wasn't like he wanted to, though. Shirayuri was only his 'charge' assigned to him, after all. But as much as he respected Thales, he sometimes felt uneasy. Shira, as he called her name for short, had been anything but regal as all royalty would act. Then again, he thought, some royal bloods would want to add some spice to their lives and Shira was no exception. It may be no wonder that Shira had been unhappy for the whole time she's been in Granea, and for that he felt obligated to look for her even as the festivities continued on around him. As much as he wanted to step back and enjoy something that he had never been in before, he couldn't. He was a soldier, not some innocent bystander and unfortunately that made him feel uneasy even more. That, and there was also his missing mother. Suppose that's what I get for wanting to honor father's wish. He eventually reached the Lunar Clock Tower. There, he approached a child who had apparently got himself lost. The child's crying had been loud and ongoing since he first heard him and when he approached him, the child suddenly backed away from him. It was bad enough he had lost Shira, and what he now found instead was a lost child. Ollie shouldn't be surprised by this action, though. He was a soldier, after all. "GO AWAY!!!" the child shouted at him, tears streaming down his face. Ollie could smell the pineapple juices on him. "Look, kid. I'm not here to hurt you" was all Ollie could say to him, drawing in a deep breath as he said it. He looked down at his dark clothes and realized he should make a more colorful approach, though the colors on him were at least in dark hues of blues and purples. His eyes wandered around before resting upon an abandoned rainbow colored robe on the ground. Picking it up, he wrapped it around himself and presented to the child, singing a little song though he knew he would never be really good with children. But although the child didn't stop crying, at least the cries were becoming more calm which relieved him a bit. By then, a question came to him. "You lost your mom or something?" The child nodded. "And you have no idea where she might've went? The child shook his head, still sniffling. "I know how you feel. I lost my mom, too. I'm trying to find her." Which was, indeed, true. He remember waking up one morning back when he was living under her roof to find that his mother disappeared, and had initially thought she had gone to study before realizing she had never come back. Speaking of lost, he had to find Shira. But he couldn't just leave the kid all alone, especially when he looked to be around only three. "Well, actually now I lost someone else," he added with a little chuckle, "and I'm supposed to be watching out for..." His voice suddenly trailed off when he saw a black-cloaked figure with a light green-clad young man. "Well, what do you know? She's found a new friend, too."

		Adrian - Coloratura
		Adrian gaped at the slight stranger in front of him, hood pulled down to shroud a face that seemed to give off a faint light of its own, even amongst the pallor of the moon and palette of festivalgoers. "Who are you?" "Oh, I'm, um, no one in particular... just looking for someone to show me around the city." Though Adrian could barely see them under the hood, the girl's eyes were darting between the hundreds of faces in the crowd, searching for the one she hoped to elude. Eh..... Nice going, Adrian. He paused and put on his best please-accept-my-designs smile. "Sorry for my reticence." Another pause. I think that's a word. Oh well. "I'm Adrian, and I'd be happy to show you around. You picked a good time to visit Zedanni." She inclined her head ever so modestly before resuming a peripheral sweep of her surroundings. "Yes, it is very beautiful... and very crowded." She seemed so perpetually astounded by the lunacy and light of the celebrations. Where did she come from, and where did she want to go? "A lot of visitors such as yourself show up for the Lunar Turning," said Adrian, hoping for a name but receiving none. In a different time, with a different person, he might have been more guarded, but the occasion was too good to pass up. "Did you see the light show on top of the Clock Tower? I can take you up there if you want." The girl's interest was piqued. "I would... that would be wonderful." They carved a path through a sea of animated revelers until they reached the set of doors from which the singers had paraded forth; a guard even taller than Adrian now stood post with a face sharper than the halberd perched across his back. The girl had resumed her scouting, hardly paying attention to Adrian, who was hoping to be impressive with his next move. "Adrian Tarrance, Alderich." From one of the many pockets of his vest he produced a simple business card, surprised to see the light of the outside world. Happy to be free from its depressed, cloistered fellows (they would have to wait another month or so before freedom beckoned once more, it assumed), it proudly proclaimed that yes, indeed, this was Adrian Tarrance, Intern at Alderich Contractors, the group that just so happened to be hosting an open house of the newly renovated second floor of the Lunar Clock Tower. The guard blinked at the meager little card that had poured out its entire purpose in life, scanned Adrian's face briefly (the man seemed too fruity for his liking), and noticed the shorter figure in black. "And your guest?" "Oh, she.... she's..." Adrian stuttered and looked helplessly at his companion. The girl made her decision with but a moment's hesitation. If I cloak myself much longer, he may come to suspect me as well... "My name is Shira, and I would humbly request admittance to the Lunar Clock Tower per Adrian's invitation." She refused to take off her hood, but the crisp cadence of her voice commanded the guard to ask no further questions. Adrian was unnerved by her sudden change in posture, but said nothing as the guard bade the doors open. The pair of green and black entered a room on fire with blue and silver tapestries depicting the inexorable march of stars across the sky. This man has connections... perhaps he can offer me protection? Freedom?" Shira barely had time to take in the atrium's resplendence before Adrian resumed his attempts at conversation. She looked him square in the face for the first time. "So, your name is Shira? It's a very.... uh, interesting name." He was saved the trouble of trying to recover, because she had let her hood down, her golden eyes like twin suns sparkling in a house of mirrors. "Please allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Shirayuri Konohana."

		Rivera - Meno Mosso
		"You didn't flatten the holes, did you?" Akila unrolled the letter and held it up to the light. Rivera had crawled under his traveler's cloak. He felt her rummaging in his belt pouch, mumbling through a mouthful of probably trailmix. "What sort of idiot do you take me for?" "One that flattens the pinholes." Satisfied, he slid the paper several times between a thumb-and-forefinger pinch, passing the lines of text between them until the holes were flattened for real, then stuffed the paper into his pocket. "Let's go." "What are we doing this time, hmm?" His cloak slid off of her. Rivera was used to Akila's long, sharp strides. She was used to jogging to keep up with him. But always, he walked to the side of her where the sun shone. She didn't complain about his speed because she knew it. "Relic-hunting." He walked around the stables and through the backdoor of an inn. Rivera wrinkled her nose a little. All this smell of pineapples and so much of it reeking of rot. She quietly followed him up the wooden stairs. The inn's walls and floors smelled sweetly polished and well-tended, despite being so old. Akila turned a brass key in a door handle and let them inside. Two brown parcels lay on the bed there, tied up in hemp string. He handed her one and she nearly dropped it from the weight. It was practically a giant box. "Lunar Clock Tower." He said, removing his cloak. "You've heard of it?" "Of course." Rivera fiddled with the knot on her parcel. "It's been there since before the war but the war burned it half to death. They managed to save most of the clockwork pieces though, and the famous clock face, so they restored the thing, added some fancy floors to it, and now it's used as convention center for high-class shenanigans." "We've been invited to one of those high-class shenanigans." He replied. "That is, we've been... 'invited.'" "Huh?" She looked up. Akila had a fine body. His bare chest gleamed with its war decorations, scars from all manners of weapons on a canvas tinged gold. He stayed muscled but not too bulky as to remain mobile and flexible. Rivera thought she could probably stare at him all day, painting a picture of it... except he already had his shoes off and his pants were coming off next. Rivera focused on her thread with more concentration than ever. "I have with me an invitation for 'representative Regaldo Yourk' and his partner, who will attend Alderich Open House at the Lunar Clock Tower on behalf of Welshire Mining from the Southlying Continent. "Why from the Southlying Continent?" Having finally given up, Rivera pulled a knife from her sleeve and cut the strings over. The brown paper fell away, revealing a swath of midnight-blue fabric. She lifted it up. Black tulle petticoats fell out the bottom. A pair of black slipper-sandals with the thin heels that had just come into fashion lay at the very bottom of the pile. "That dress you have is the latest fashion from the court of the Holy Imperial Sanct in the Southlying Continent. Put it on." Akila buttoned a stiff black robe as long as his knees over his long-sleeved white shirt. A blue ribbon tie hung over his neck. Dark breeches showed through the robe's side slits and ended in a pair of smart, black boots. "Not with you watching." She grumbled. "You say this but you were watching me--" "I wasn't watching you!" Rivera turned herself around and began undoing the belts and buckles that held her clothes together. The knives clattered loudly against each other as she dropped them unceremoniously to her feet. "They expect me to wear something this hard to move in? How do you even put it on?" "Oh? I could help--" "I'll manage!" Akila stuck his hands into his pockets. "We'll need a to have a few prepared spells. Oh, and pack your gear. Our carriageman will take care of things for us." "What relic is this about?" Rivera shook out the dress, then threw it over her head in a mess of draping cloth and filler tulle. "The Moonbeam. A sword that points at the moon at midnight and draw from it the blessing of the Lunar Goddess." "Ugh." She muttered. "I hate relic-hunting. You never know if something like that is even real. What's with these skirt things? How does anyone walk in this? Do I look fat?" Akila tapped the invitation card against his cheek a few times. Indeed the simple-textured yet complexly-sewn dress suited her. Off-the shoulder dyed lace trimmed with silver threads and a sprinkle of silver embroidery turned the bell-shaped skirt into the night sky... and her milky-white skin finished it off with grace and authenticity. Women of the Southlying Continent were paler than islanders. "The reason we represent a Southlying Continent's business is because of that skirt, Rivera. Where else are we going to hide our equipment?" He said. "No one would dare to search under it, since the sexual harrassment of a woman is a serious demeanor. Come here. Wipe off your dusty hands and we'll see if we can do something about your hair." In a little under an hour, their carriageman arrived, brought out their things, and helped her into the curtained buggy. She felt out of place midst the fly-buzzing pineapples and the sarong-garbed women, more so than she did in the soldier's clothes in her luggage. Akila managed to scrub the dirt out of her skin, powder her face up a little and put her hair up in an elaborate pile, revealing the low back of her dress for all to see. "This is ridiculous..." She muttered. "Where did you even learn how to put make-up on? Or style hair? My nails feel too CLEAN. I feel like a prostitute-- Oh! So that's where you learned it, hmm? Those nights you go sneaking out, probably to visit some woman with a red lantern in her windo--mmrfrg!" His covered her mouth with a carefully cupped hand so he wouldn't smudge the lip-rouge she wore. No one would here them besides the carriageman, who, a supporter of the LL, would know to keep mum. Akila let out a deep sigh. "Try to behave like a lady of high class. There will be plenty of food there, so keep yourself busy. Don't overeat though." Rivera pried off his hand and flung it aside disdainfully. "I don't overeat before missions. Hmph. Where in the tower is the Moonbeam anyway?" "Well, we'll have to find that out, won't we?" "You mean you don't know?!" "Milord, Milady," When she wasn't paying attention, the carriage ground to a halt on the paved stone road before the tower. The carriageman opened the door for them. "We've arrived." "Put your act on." Akila stepped out first to help her down. He was confident in her balance yet with a dress whose petticoats were laden with everything from daggers to spellbooks, she seemed to totter on the delicate little shoes the LL sent. She, who would have normally refused his hand, hesitantly took it. Rivera had fallen into the role she was meant to play. A young man in green led a young, foreign woman through the door before them. Rivera mentally sighed. She could never be so willowy, nor could she ever speak the way a real lady would. Nothing would change the abrasive language learned in her years as a warpainter... and she did not mind that. Akila already introduced himself to the doorman. He would do all of the talking. "Regaldo Yourk, from Welshire Mining; and my lady, Miss Elena Hortes." He flashed the invitation. "Mister Yourk... yes, here we are." The doorman seemed to write something on the guestlist, then checked the ink seal on the invitation to verify its authenticity. "Welcome, and please go to the third floor." "Thank you." A ways up the stairs, Rivera whispered to him. "That's an impressive forgery..." Akila grinned a little. "Who said it was forged?"

		Shirayuri - The pure white lily in the golden light.
		Shira was led into tower, inside was a large party fill with well dress ladies and gentlemen. Shira herself felt like kinda odd the odd one out, wearing a mere cloak over herself. While she may not the dress the part, she tries to act proper and elegant. "So, I take it that you not from here. Is it okay if you tell me where you're from Ms. Konohana? " Shira looks up at Adrian "It's okay, but it kinda a long story, I don’t wont want bored you with the details. " Adrian chuckled, "It fine with me, I'm interested where my guest I've been escorted tonight is from. " "Okay then, " Shira takes a breath before explain her story. "I'm from another country know ass Izakami, and I'm kinda from a high class family, so it why I was able to make a long trip here. " "Uhmm… High class huh? I don’t think I'm qualified to escort a person like yourself?" Adrian start to sweat a bit. "Oh it okay, just don’t see me like that. Just a girl who like know more about this land of yours." "Very well then, Shira. Now just why would someone like you come this far to see Granea? " "Well, the main reason I want to see Granea is that this my mother homeland. She told me stuff about Granea and I wanted to see this land for myself." "Oh, so you're half Granean? Hm, you seem like a very interesting person. So how did your parents meet?" "Well... Lets just say, my father travel world a lot and meet my mother when he visit Granea. Shot and Simple! I wont bored you with the details." Shira giggles after she finish. "Well, how did they meet? Like we did tonight?" "Well..." Shira pause for a while feeling a bit uncomfortable. "They just told me they meet on his visit here. " Adrian get feel he cross a line. "You know, lets do something else. I know why not we dance? " He offer his hand as he points to the ballroom. "I’m not sure, I've never dance before…" Shira start get a bit nervous as she stepped back. "Don’t worry, I’ll help you out. I’ll be fun, trust me! " "Okay, I'll give it a try! " Shira takes his hand and lets him lead her to the ballroom. While he was leading her, she was wondering if Ollie was okay and hoping she didn’t get him into too much trouble. When she got to the room she begin dancing with Adrian with the classical music playing to fit the mood.