A Price Unpaid- Gavin, Zephyr, Thea Kyo scratched his cheek when Thea excitedly went on about seeing a kitten, and the other mages seemed to want to come with them. "Well, the farm is a long ways out of town," Kyo said while looking at his pocket watch. "And it will be dusk soon. Mudgav has a curfew for everyone to be in their homes by 9pm, sharp. We have about maybe three hours for that... How about this," he said to Thea as he crouched down to her height. "I know there's a mother cat and her kittens in the inn you are staying at. The owner will be nice enough to let you see them if you want." Delivery of Cakes- Shawn, Yukyo, Lakoda There was sprinkles of orange juice raining down on her and the girl frowned a bit as she tried to shield herself the best she could, ducking her head and hunching her shoulders. "No, but someone just jumped in front of us-" Lakoda blinked in utter surprise when Yukyo actually hooked himself up to a set of reins and turned himself into a horse. She felt the horse cart lurch forward to go faster and made sure she had a steady grip on those reins to keep it under control. She blinked against the sand that was around them, covering her eyes and glancing back at Shawn. "Do you see anything?" she called out to him. Nothing seemed to occur as they gained more speed, and soon they were out of the woods. Literally. There were no trees around, only a clearing with a bridge ahead of them over a river. "That must be the Wyseful Bridge and the Renifel River," she said out loud to the boys. Just as she was about to slow down the wagon, all the sudden, large eggs began to rain down in front of them, exploding into loud pops and smoke. The horses on either side of Yukyo reared up and neighed in fright, and Lakoda struggled to keep them steady as more eggs were raining down around them, exploding and making it hard to see. "CAW CAW, MOTHER FLUFFERS!" A voice croaked above them. If they looked up, they would see- Spoiler A bird? Spoiler The large parrot, bird thing cawed loudly and then smirked down at the children. "Egg Blaster!" He shouted. His beak suddenly opened up, and large eggs began to shoot out of his mouth towards the group. The eggs broke open in mid air, and the yolk turned into large fists, heading straight towards them like missiles. Village in Peril- Conrad, Everette, Samuel The farmer had mentioned that the village water came underground from a river about ten miles away, and it was used to feed the larger stock that would come into town. He also mentioned that the pureeing seemed to help keep down the food, but that was all. The animals were still in pretty bad shape no matter what he did. Soon, Renza and Conrad were on their way back to down. Renza had a duck feather in her hair, and kept giggling as they walked, running with her arms out like a bird with her yellow flowers clenched in her hand as they made their way to the village square. Samuel came out as well. He looked a little pale as if he experienced something bad and a light sheen of sweat was on his forehead. As soon as he was in the sunshine, he closed his eyes and tilted his head back, breathing in deeply and letting it out slowly. He then opened his eyes and looked down, seeing Everette making his way towards the well and smiled a little. He walked to him gradually, pushing his glasses up his nose and walked to him with heavy steps. "Hey, find out anything?" he asked as he approached him closer.
As Aria was watching the interactions with Gero and Tinarah and Take, she felt a suddenly tug on her bracelet. And the Light Chaser one to be exact. “Hey, hey, hey!” She whispered under her breath to Torrin, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. She had no choice but to sit since the thing was tightening around her wrist and was threatening to get tighter if she didn’t move with it. “What are you-?” It was then she was handed the note and raised an eyebrow. She saw the little smiley face on it along with a T and blinked at it. She didn’t know what it meant exactly, but he handed it to her without looking at her and pretending to look at the people who were speaking at the moment. She then looked down at her hands, seeing them shaking and then looked at Torrin. Did he notice earlier and wanted her to sit...? She looked over her shoulder at her grandfather figure, knowing he had other things to attend to at the moment. He wanted to talk to Take for some reason... odd. She then looked back at the note and carefully folded it back up, slipping it in a pocket to be hidden away. She didn’t know his reason exactly for it, but it was nice she supposed. After she finished her hot chocolate, she stood once again and smiled at Torrin. "I'm going to find Master Choma," she said with a slight shrug of her shoulder and headed into the castle. She soon found Master Choma and gave him a big hug, and a pouty face. "I wish you could come with us," she said and then let go of him. She fell back into seriousness and smiled, rubbing the back of her neck. "Well... I guess I'll see you later, Master Choma. I promise I'll do my best to stay out of trouble." With that, she bowed her head to him and then turned away, heading back towards the others so they could get going.
When Tinarah told Aria to go on ahead without her, Aria made sure the girl was comfortable before taking off. She ran hard, and fast once she was out of Tinarah's line of sight, running off her frustrations and the negative vibes she was feeling all day. She woke up with a nightmare, and never really had much of a break to herself since then. She let her lungs burn as she kept an even sense of breathing, and her legs were equally on fire, but she didn't stop. The others were too far ahead of her, which she didn't mind at all. This gave her time to stop thinking for a moment and just enjoy the thrill of the run with her heart pounding in her ears and the birds chirping with the wind whispering through the trees around her. A few times she looked back and saw glimpses of someone following behind, but didn't think much about it. There were people going at different paces, and this was a safe world as far as she knew. When she got back to the castle, she saw Tinarah was already there waiting for them along with a few others. She finally slowed down and walked it out, panting and shaking out her legs to get rid of the blood rushing feeling in them. She then immediately started to stretch again, knowing that if she didn't, she was going to feel it in the morning. Aria wasn't hungry for food and waited around a bit before having a look to see what was there... Even though she wasn't really hungry. She was surprised to see her thermos of hot chocolate brought out and smiled to herself. It was then she noticed Torrin was sitting alone on the castle steps and she thought of an idea. Soon she approached him, quietly handing the cup of hot chocolate to him while sitting down by him with her own small cup. "That was a good run," she said quietly. Her hands were trembling slightly, but she didn't mind. She had so much to process and let out, this was just a sign she pushed herself just enough. Soon the peace and quiet was over as Grandpa Gero stepped out. Aria stood to attention, setting the hot chocolate aside. She watched the older man with concern, knowing that this change of events meant that Grandpa Gero was just pushing through his weakened state. She was glad to hear she wasn't going to have to stay behind though and would be able to go with everyone else. It was then the other master appeared, and Aria looked on with surprise. It seemed like the Council of Light had tricks up their own sleeves, which made sense given how cunning the Light Chaser could be. She nodded in respects to the woman, and then looked at Torrin, seeing the shock on his face. Aria smiled, happy that Master Thallasa ended up being alive all this time. Aria listened to Take's request, and then Tinarah's request... Both were very important, and she wondered what would be said on the manner.
Tinarah’s current condition was a concern, yet Aria knew if Grandpa Gero was on his feet now, maybe Tinarah would be able to work up to there as well. And her comment about having Aria in the group verses being locked in the castle was nice to say the least. She couldn’t help but to smile a little at it. Soon, they were outside in the sunshine. Aria felt the chilly mountain air and shivered as she smiled to herself. This reminded her of Master Choma’s Castle a little, yet she felt they were higher up. Maybe it was the illusions of the clouds. Aria pulled out a hair tie from her pocket, tying her long braid into a bun of sorts so it wouldn’t get in the way. Even if she was going to mostly walk with Tinarah, they were going to be out in nature. After some struggle of tying her hair up, Aria began to do light stretches; touching her toes, stretching her each arm over her head, doing whatever she needed to do before they got started. She glanced at Tinarah as she did this, happy to see that she felt more at peace outside, and Take seemed to be doing so much better than what she saw earlier. Everyone seemed in good spirits for the most part. For once, and very rarely she did this, she chose to keep quiet. She wanted to enjoy everyone’s company and see them come out of their shells, setting aside their worries for a while. She would go with what they all decided, knowing full well that no matter what they chose, she was gonna hang back by Tinarah.
Aria could see her words hurt Tinarah, and she felt a twinge of guilt within her. She put her drink down and moved by Tinarah's side once more, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as she cried and had a look of concern on her face. "I'm really sorry," Aria whispered softly. It was then Take came to them and asked them to go for a run. To her surprise, Tinarah wanted to go as well. Maybe for just a walk, but at least she would go out and get fresh air. Aria smiled and nodded her head. "You know me. Master Choma couldn't get me to stay put in the castle for three seconds..." She laughed a little and then looked to the girl, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "You will get first swing. I'll make sure of it... And it probably hurts you more because its in the heart," she said quietly as she touched her own chest. "You care so much, which isn't a bad thing. It means you are a good person. You work at your own pace, Tinarah... We'll always be here with open arms for you, no matter what you decide to do. And I'm sure Master Stamatis never once had blamed you for what happened... How were you supposed to know it was a trap?" She smiled a little, glancing at the floor for a moment. "Being a Princess of Heart... I feel like I'm a pawn too... I want to be out there and protect you guys, fight along side you... But I won't be able to if the Light Chaser gets at least two more princesses. I'm like a hazardous risk. I don't want to be a tool of manipulation. I want to be able to continue to be myself and build my strength along side all of you. It seems like it'll be over once we're down to the last few princesses and I'm the only one standing... I don't want to put everyone at risk because of me." She let her arm fall away from Tinarah's shoulder and held up her wrist that had the Light Chaser bracelet on it, right next to Mika's friendship bracelet. "See this thing? The Light Chaser gave it to me before Torrin found me. I can't take it off," she tugged on it, showing it painfully tighten around her wrist before she winced and let go of it. "One of the masters said it doesn't track where I'm at. All I know what it does is protect me in battle... Like this like bubble comes around me and saves me from really bad hits. It's like... he knows I'm kinda reckless. And it's kind of creepy to think about that." Aria sighed out and then stood up, offering a hand for Tinarah to take. "Let's go get some fresh air, mm? I think it'll do us some good too." She grinned at the girl and tilted her head. Although she was a running person, she would walk with Tinarah. Tinarah needed a friend right now to trust, and Aria wanted to be that friend for her.
Okay, I was called Friendly_Heartless back in the day... ... we do not talk about those times
Spoiler: Tales of a Princess: Innocent Times Age: Four Years Old It wasn’t long before the small babe was not only talking, but walking as well. Her aunt let her help with small chores around the house when she was capable enough, and sat her down to begin early reading lessons as young as three. Things were peaceful enough, and it gave Aria enough time to flourish, explore, and play freely. She was still a happy, easy going child and always seemed concerned for others’ wellbeing. Yet the nightmare she had an infant would come and go throughout the weeks and months. It was the same for a while; the creature with sharp fangs would be screaming either aloud or silently and then be pointing a long, clawed finger at her with that sinister smile. The good times seemed to outweigh those bad dreams though, and her aunt and uncle figured it was going to become a regular, normal occurrence she would grow out of. Aria learned not only the basic fundamentals of education, but the ways of life as well. She helped on the farm where she was able to and learned that other creatures had to eat and be taken care of as well. They also became sick sometimes, and had to be nursed back to health like she had to from time to time. And around age four, she learned what death was. It was late in the day when the sun was going to set soon. Dinner was made and staying warm in the oven, and Aunt Anja and Aria we’re outside hanging the laundry. Uncle Lanar made a mini clothesline for little Aria to reach easily, and Aria loved it so much. She was hanging her green summer dress when she saw at least two figures and a basset hound looking dog walking towards them from the setting sun. Recognizing the larger figure, Aria gasped and smiled big. “Uncle Lanar!” Aria dropped what she was doing and dashed off towards the man. He was dusty, and wearing a plaid red shirt and a pair of overalls with patches on them here and there. His work boots were muddy, and he was a bit smelly, but Aria could care less. The burly man saw his niece running to him and dropped down to one knee with his arms outstretched. He grinned when she almost tumbled down, but then picked up the pace and crashed in his arms. He hugged her tight, almost making her disappear in fabric and muscles and lifted her up in the air and spinning her around. “My sweet niece!” He exclaimed as he shifted her to rest on one of his arms. “How are you today, my darling one?” Aria giggled and pressed her hands on Uncle Lanar’s face to fluff out his dark, black beard. “Good! I made homemade bread today all by myself!” Uncle Lanar gasped with wide eyes. “You did?” He then cupped his hand over his mouth to whisper to the little girl. “With that teaspoon of honey I like?” “Yup!” Aria whispered more loudly. “Excellent,” the man said with a deep laugh. He sat his niece on his shoulder and turned to his companion who came with him from the field. “Gerrit, I’m sure you can stay for dinner like always if you wish.” Gerrit was a stocky older teen with freckles dotting his nose and cheeks, and dark red hair. He was wearing patched up jeans and a white shirt. He had a gap between his teeth when he smiled, and a ragged straw hat sitting on top of his messy hair. He was a nice boy that was hired for farm work since his family needed all the income possible. He was lucky to be hired by the Dorins; they were almost like a second family to him. “Thank you, Mister Dorin. That’d be mighty nice,” he said with a nod of his hat. “Boy,” Lanar addressed Gerrit. He then took of his straw hat and handed it to Aria before ruffling his hair furiously. “How many times have I told you to call me Lanar? Mister makes me feel old, and Dorin sounds too proper.” Gerrit laughed and hunched his shoulders as he walked along with the pair. “Many times, sir- I mean, Lanar.” After getting a playful stern look from the older man, his straw hat was shoved on his head and he was pat on the shoulder a few times. He then looked to the four year old and offered a toothy grin. “Do I get to try sum of your bread, Miss Aria?” Aria giggled and covered her mouth in shyness with both of her hands. She nodded her head, and Gerrit pumped his fist in the air with excitement. The dog, who was Geron’s and respectfully called Brax, hopped up and down while barking along the three humans. “And you will have scraps too, Brax. Don’t you worry about that,” Lanar said with a chuckle as he switched Aria to sit on top of his shoulders. Aunt Anja was waiting patiently for the group to arrive closer. All the laundry was hung to dry in the gentle breeze, even the dress that Aria dropped on the ground earlier. “Welcome home,” Anja greeted warmly while hugging her husband. He in turn hugged her with one arm while using the other to keep Aria up, and kissed her on top of her head. “Is Gerrit staying for dinner?” Anja asked as she turned to the teen. “If it’s quite alright, ma’am,” Gerrit said with a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck. Anja’s cooking was always the best after a long, hard day. “Pft, of course it is!” She wrapped one arm around Gerrit’s shoulder and rubbed it affectionately just like a mother. “Shall we go in and wash up then?” “Hold on, sweetheart. I have to check the Chocobos that were just sold. They’re heading out tomorrow.” Lanar looked up at Aria on his shoulders and smiled. “Do you want to go with aunty? Or uncle?” “Uncle!” Aria exclaimed, raising her arms above her head and nearly falling backwards. Lanar laughed as he caught the girl before she even fell off, and held both of her hands to steady her on his shoulders. Aunt Anja shook her head with a smile. “Well you two hurry up. I’m going to get Gerrit here started to he can head home to his family." “Yes Ma’am!” Both exclaimed. Uncle Lanar kissed Anja on the cheek, and then trotted off with Aria on his shoulders to the Chocobo stables. He made noises through his lips, which made Aria squeal as they took off running. — After helping her uncle feed the chocobos and saying goodbye to the ones that were leaving with a big hug and kiss, Aria bounded out of the stable with her thick workboots on that were slightly too big for her. Uncle Lanar followed after the girl, chuckling to himself as he watched her clumsily clunk her feet through the grass. He turned to lock the stables up for the night, only keeping his eyes off of her for a second. “So what did you and Aunt Anja make for dinner?” He only heard giggling behind him, which sounded farther than it was earlier. Raising an eyebrow, he looked to see Aria climbing a small hill that had a lone tree swaying in the warm air, picking various wildflowers that were growing around. Smiling to himself, he locked the large padlock in place and then checked it to make sure it was secured before following his niece. Aria hummed to herself as she picked the flowers, greatly enjoying her time with her uncle on this side of the farm. Soon she reached the top and came face to face with the large tree and she took a moment to stop and stare up at it. It was so much taller than her, and her neck was craned far back before she lost her balance and ended up sitting on her bottom. “Wow,” she breathed out. Her eyes followed the tree trunk back towards the ground, and that was when something caught her eye. Aria saw a stone sitting there under the shade of the tree. It seemed out of place, which only heightened Aria’s curiosity. The little girl stood up, her eyebrow wrinkled as she approached the new object slowly. It was a rock, cut and smoothed in a shape of a large cross. There were three letters carved downwards, and two dates of sorts going across with little designs of butterflies and flowers here and there. Aria noticed dried out flowers placed at the bottom of the cross along with a white, burned out candle. Aria stood there staring at it, not sure what to make of it. “That’s your little cousin, Mia…” Aria looked over her shoulder to see her uncle standing there. His smile was sad, and his eyes looked lonely to her. She could feel the mood shift as Uncle Lanar walked closer and knelt down by Aria. “Why are you sad…?” She asked innocently. Uncle Lanar forced a smile and carefully laid a hand on his niece’s shoulder. “I’m not sad… I am… missing someone.” “Why?” The man looked to Aria back to the memorial before him. He didn’t know how much she would understand, but he knew Aria wouldn’t stop bothering him about it until she had answers. He sighed out heavily. “Your aunt and I… we always wanted our own child, Aria.This was before you came to us. We were so happy when we found out Aunt Anja was going to finally have a baby. But the day the baby was to be born, something went wrong. The little baby did not cry, or breathe. She-” Uncle Lanar sighed out as he struggled to find the words that Aria would understand. “She always stayed asleep and never woke up. And that’s called death.” “Death…?” Aria looked up at her uncle and then back at the cross before her sadly. “Death is when you never wake up again?” “That’s right,” he said quietly as he patted Aria on the shoulder. “And… when they leave you forever to where you can’t see them. But you will always feel them,” he touched his chest, “right here from time to time. It’s their way to say they’re looking out for you always and you will never be alone… even if they’re not here with you.” “Mia…” Aria repeated the name softly. “Can we talk to her?” Lanar was taken aback by the question. “Y-yes… but she won’t talk back…” “That’s okay.” Aria walked closer to the grave and knelt down. She stared at the cross and then hesitantly hugged it with her wildflower bouquet grasped in her hand. “I love you, Mia.” She tightened her grip and pressed her cheek against the stone. “Uncle Lanar and Aunt Anja love you too.” The large man felt a lump form in his throat and his eyes watered. Aria was innocent, yet she was an empathic and seemed to understand the world around her better than what anyone would assume. They were blessed to have the opportunity to raise her. After a long moment, Aria let go and touched the stone quietly. “Can I give my flowers to her?” She asked her uncle. Lanar sniffed and wiped a tear from his eye with his thumb. “Yes. We need to change out these old ones anyways.” He took the dried up ones while Aria waited patiently, and then watched as Aria laid the flowers carefully by the candle. Without saying a word, Uncle Lanar took out a match box in his left pocket and struck a match against it. The candle was lit, and the pair sat there for a moment, letting the sound of chirping chocobos and the summer air blow through the trees speak for them. After a long silence, Aria looked up at Lanar with a twinkle in her eye. “I think she heard us,” she whispered softly. Lanar smiled down at his niece. “I think so too… Come on, little one. Aunt Anja will get worried about us if we don’t go for supper soon.” Nodding, Aria stood up to her feet again and smiled at the rock before her. She then kissed her hand and placed it on the stone, saying her goodbyes for the day to Mia before being lifted up by Lanar and carried to dinner. The purple hair girl made herself comfortable by pulling up a chair and sitting close by Tinarah. She took her plate that had her soup bowl on it and grilled cheese sandwich, dipping the sandwich in the soup and nibbling on the parts that were soaked in it. It didn’t stop her from hearing Tinarah’s words though. She hummed in amusement when Tinarah asked her how she knew Fost or seemed to know him anyways. Aria stayed quiet though, mesmerized by how much Tinarah was opening up now. Before, she would barely say maybe one or two words to her. Now she was speaking freely, and she was impressed by every moment of it. A half-eaten grilled sandwich put down, Aria dusted the crumbs off of her fingers by rubbing her hands together and then finished chewing the bit of food before swallowing. "I just know your Uncle Fost based on what you told me. So I'm just going off of what you said," she said with a small smile as she set her plate aside back on the tray and pulled one knee up to her chest, hugging it to herself. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You've been through a lot. You haven't told me everything before you came to us at the castle, but I saw the scars. And I saw how withdrawn you were from everyone. I would have probably been the same..." She rested her chin on her knee as an unpleasant memory flickered through her mind. She shut her eyes and pushed it out, breathing in and out slowly before fluttering her eyes open once more. "Knowing people, and yourself, will come with time... At least that's what happened with me. I kind of open my eyes to others and try to see how they might be seeing things verses how I'm seeing it. Sometimes it's accurate, and sometimes its not... But I still try to be open about other's situations and viewpoints. Even if I may be a bit slow or not understand it right away..." Aria was kind of surprised why Tinarah wanted to go back into that strange realm, but understood why. "I know you're lost right now," she began softly as she watched the other from where she was. "Time has went on normally for me while you were thrown into a time that went on for five years in two days. You built relationships with people that seem to be the same here, but aren't... And seen how evil someone could be... Even though it's not really them," she referred to Torrin. "I won't stop you if you want to go back," she said as she pulled the other knee up to her chest and wrapped both arms around them, "but I would stop and think about it for a moment... The Light Chaser has the power and the ability to bring a world almost from being lost to the darkness back to the light. He healed your scars as if nothing happened. He pulled me out of the darkness when no one else could... And he took on the strongest people we know and even then it wasn't enough. He's the one that sent you to that realm. What if... he had the ability to manipulate what happened there? Make you distrust your own brother or... whatever else he need from you. As far as I know, Chrono was never there on that bridge. At least the Chrono I know here. He was so worried about you when you didn't show up and wanted more than anything to go find you, but didn't know where or how. He kept your violin safe, by the way," she said with a small smile. "But if anything... And... It's really grim to think about, and I'm sorry about it... But I think the Light Chaser would have the ability to manipulate the time in that realm... So no matter what anyone did, no matter how good or evil their intentions are... It would always end up with the same fate... It seems like so much power, but based on what we know he's... pretty darn powerful." Aria sighed out heavily and grabbed for her hot chocolate, letting it warm her cold hands as she stared down at it. "... The battle has always been the same here since you were gone. At least finding the Princess of Heart, stop the Light Chaser, and save the worlds from darkness type same. Mika is gone, but you still have Master Choma and I here as a family if you want to take that... And Chrono will be more than willing to want to bond with you again and check on your well-being. I'm sure Take would love you as a friend, and maybe Illiana and Glyde as well. They're still the same as you left them. We're willing to work with you and help you recover from all that you had to endure," she said with a smile as she looked back up at Tinarah. "And I'm sure you can build a relationship with the Master Stamatis here. He looked really worried about you at the meeting. Like he wanted to get up from his seat and hug you and talk to you type worry... The Fost here? He sounds grumpy and a bit stronger-willed. Give him some time. I'm sure once he figures out what happened exactly, he'll want to come talk to you as well." She paused and sipped some of her hot chocolate, and then took the straw to make the cool whip dissolve in the chocolaty liquid. "You always will belong with us. No matter where you go or what you decide to do, you always have a place with us. Nothing here has changed since you left when you were 12 years old... Well... You might have changed, but we haven't. We still care for you and love you. And if you believe it's not true with anyone else, believe me. Cause I was worried sick about you the last couple of days. And when I heard what happened to you, I wanted to march back to the Light Chaser and seriously punch him in the face." She pulled her straw out of her cup, pointing it to Tinarah to make a point. "And you know I'm not usually the punching type, so you know what he did to you got me really upset." She then ran her mouth over the straw before putting it back in and sipping some more of the warm liquid down, finally pausing to give Tinarah a chance to let all she said sink in. "I'm sorry if I overloaded you at all," she said as she let her feet touch the floor again. "If I talk too much for you, feel free to tell me to shush already." She winked and then giggled at her friend, bringing the bowl of soup and bread back to her again so she could finish it up before it got cold.
After wandering down in the hallway for a while, Aria found Tinarah's room and rapped her knuckles lightly on the door. "Knock, knock~ It's me, Aria. I'm coming in." Though the door was partially opened, she felt it necessary to announce herself so she didn't catch the girl off guard. She nudged the door open more and came in backwards with the cart of food and drink. Once she was in the room, she moved it to be in front of Tinarah and then faced her, extending one arm to the cart while posing her other arm in the air. "Tadaaaa~ My Aunt Anja's famous hot chocolate with grilled cheese and tomato soup with a tad of basil on it. Aaaaand some water too in case we get thirsty." She then noticed Tinarah looked a little sad and frowned a bit while lowering her arm. "What's wrong? Did something happen while I was gone?"
Aria enjoyed hearing about Uncle Fost and Master Stamatis. Although Tinarah wasn't brought back to her friends and brother as promised, at least she was able to spend time with good people... at leas their alternatives. "... He probably didn't respond because of the dangers of the Light Chaser... It sounded like you guys had a hard time against him with even Master Statmatis, Torrin, and Grandpa Gero there. I don't know much about Boreas, but maybe he's strong too. So like... four of the strongest people we know facing the threat we were told not to underestimate not doing too great. And if the Uncle Fost there is as good as the Master Fost here... That probably would have been bad to pit all the more powerful people against the Light Chaser and leave the castle here vulnerable... But if the Uncle Fost there and the Master Fost here are the same... I bet he felt very guilty to not answer your call. I bet he wanted to badly but just couldn't because he needed to protect others in his care. Not that he doesn't care about you less," Aria quickly said while raising her hands to defend herself and what she was saying, "just that he needed to keep one of the few sanctuaries left untouched by the Darkness and out of the hands of the Light Chaser." She then nodded her head to her statement about Grandpa Gero wanting to protect her and sighed out as her shoulders slumped. "I understand..." She didn't want to voice out loud how all of this seemed impossible now. If four of their strongest couldn't even stand against the Light Chaser, how were they going to hold up when the time came? When Tinarah voiced about not wanting hot chocolate cause she would have to run into people, Aria smiled and titlted her head while closing her eyes. "That's alright. How about I make some then, and I'll meet you in my room or even your room if you want. You decide where we meet. That way, you can have a little break, get all freshened up, and then have a hot drink that'll soothe your soul. I make mean hot chocolate, remember?" Aria said with a grin as she gently nudged Tinarah in the shoulder with her elbow. "I'll probably make us some grilled cheese sandwiches while I'm at it since it's like, nearly lunch time I believe. But yeah..." She hugged the girl to her and then let her legs unfold so her feet were touching the floor again. "Pick a place for me to meet you, and we'll get you all comfy and nice again. You need it after the day we had." ~Kitchen Time~ Aria happily hummed to herself as she focused on making the hot chocolate just right. Unlike the gally back on the RC Legacy, the kitchen was full stocked with everything she needed to use, including cool whip... And rainbow sprinkles. True to her word, she even made some grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup with a tiny bit of basil sprinkled on top She served up the hot chocolate in two mugs, adding the cool whip and rainbow sprinkles delicately. She then found some straws and placed them in the hot beverage, and then placed everything on a small food cart she found hanging about. She even found some fresh flowers and put them in a tiny vase, giggling to herself. Maybe she was being a bit too girly, but the flowers did cheer her up. Remembering that all of this could make someone more thirsty, Aria put some water in a pitcher and had empty glasses readily available. With everything in place, and after cleaning up everything she used to cook in (saving the rest of the hot chocolate in a large thermos and leaving a note for everyone to take some if they wanted to, "With Love from Aria <3 cool whip is in the fridge" with the canister of rainbow sprinkles and a bag of marshmallows by it), she began to push her little food cart down the hallway, heading to the place where Tinarah told her to meet her at.
As Tinarah cried, Aria continued to hug her, letting her let it all out. She of all people knew the importance of letting out all of her emotions. Tinarah had so much pented up for so long, Aria knew she was still processing everything and didn’t mind one bit. When Tinarah stepped back, Aria sniffed and wiped her own tears away. She was glad The girl felt safe enough around her to be able to express her emotions more freely. “No, no, it’s okay... you’ve been through so much. I understand,” she said with a reassuring smile. “And hey... in a way you did fulfill your promise. Not physically like you wanted to, but because you were never brought back to our friends like the Light Chaser promised the both of us, people came looking for you and found me...” She watched as Tinarah moved to the piano bench, and then gestured for her to sit by her. Aria smiled a little and did just that, sitting by Tinarah and listening to her words. Her eyes saddened for her friend and Aria wrapped an arm around her shoulder, squeezing it and bringing her close to her. “I understand to an extent,” she spoke softly. “It’s not the same as it was... they look like the ones you spent time with, but they’re completely different here.” The girl squeezed Tinarah’s shoulder once more before letting go and then crisscrossed her legs on the bench, looking to the door to make sure no one was there before glancing at Tinarah. “Grandpa Gero? I mean, Master Gero... I knew him growing up. He was always there, and kind of my mentor before I got the keyblade. He always came to every one of my birthdays up to when I was about eleven years old, and he was so kind to me. He even came when things got really bad, which only happened twice... There was one time when I was seven my uncle was attacked by these wolf-like monsters we called wrenfel... and my uncle lost an arm and a leg. Grandpa Gero was there to save him, and to comfort me afterwards. He even made sure my uncle got new limbs so he could go back to a somewhat normal life.” She let out a sigh, her heart saddening as she played with the charms on Mika’s bracelet. “He even told me once before he disappeared I needed to stay strong and face my problems, that I can’t always run away from them. Now, things are different. I... I understand why, but it’s like... the Grandpa Gero I grew up with is not here anymore. He’s gone... and I get it, and I feel bad for being selfish because he’s been through so much like you have... but that kind hearted grandfather figure seems like a distant memory now. Just like it had been since he disappeared... But to spend time with someone only to come back to your normal time and they don’t remember you well...? That’s really difficult too...” Aria trailed off and glanced to Tinarah. “Ya know, I think we’re both in need of hot chocolate. It’s been a really hard day. How ‘bout it? I’ll even add some marshmallows or cool whip with rainbow sprinkles if you want.” Aria offered Tinarah a warm grin and waited patiently for the girl to answer. This whole day had been a roller coaster for them in different ways, and Aria wanted to make it better somehow, even though she could only think of something trivial like drinking hot chocolate. “You can still tell me all about the things you want to tell me about your time in the other deminsion, and I’ll listen while I make some chocolately goodness that’ll soothe our souls. Whaddya say?”
"No one told you?" Aria was surprised. Given her reactions back at the meeting, she just assumed she forgot for a minute that their friend was gone. But to hear that no one actually told her about it was heart-wrenching. Finding out in the meeting in front of everyone wasn't the best way to go about it at all. It was then she was asked what happened exactly, and Aria realized she herself didn't know the cause of Mika's death. "I... I'm not sure," she said, being completely honestly. "All I was told was that she's gone. I'm sorry you had to find out the way you did..." She trailed off when Tinarah turned to her fully and Aria offered the girl a small smile. "I'm glad to see you too. I was really worried about you when Torrin showed up with Atmos looking for you... I was told you made it back, but I know now what happened there... I should have kept you by my side. I shouldn't have let you go-" Aria was silenced when she was suddenly hugged by Tinarah. She had shut her out for so long, it caught Aria off guard to have her be the one to initiate the hug. It was then the little girl... while not so little anymore, broke down into sobs. Aria felt her heart break in two and hugged the girl to her, laying her head on her shoulder and letting her know that she was safe here with her friends now. "I'm here," Aria soothed gently, rubbing the Tinarah's back as she cried. The Princess of Heart was starting to feel her own tears come on and held Tinarah a little closer to her. It was a wonder that she had held on so long the way she did under those conditions, never knowing if she was ever going to come back to her friends or not, or if she was going to make it out alive. And having to leave behind people that reached out to her and loved her in-between the bad times was hard. "I'm so glad you're here too," she whispered as tears freely rolled down her cheeks.
An eyebrow was raised at Torrin's opinion of Grandpa Gero. Then again, it made sense... sort of. Everything she thought she knew up to this point about Grandpa Gero was changing suddenly. She still respected him, but she wondered if these years being apart and him undergoing torture in the other realm would put a strain on the relationship they developed before he left; as a mentor of sorts and the grandfather she needed in time's of crisis. And being important as he was... why take the time to check on her? "Yeah, you're right..." she replied softly, gripping on one of the charms on the bracelet and letting go. She was then nudged towards Tinarah's direction and she half-laughed. "Thanks... I mean, I worry about everyone cause I care. Not cause I'm this pure of heart or whatever... Mika-" She stopped herself and felt a twinge of pain in her soul for a moment. She changed thought processes quickly. "T-Tinarah could tell you all the times I tried to befriend her. I think I scared her a little to be honest, but I tried." She half-smiled and looked down the hallway, and took a deep breath through her nose. "And for what it's worth," Aria said, remembering what was said back at the meeting, "I believe you won't end up being like that Other Torrin. Ever. You're nice, and you look out for others," she said with a slight shrug of her shoulder. "In fact, you seem to worry about everyone too, just like I do. And you are hard on yourself when things don't go right for others, or you blame yourself. It's kinda hard to see you as someone from the Realm of Darkness. The Other Torrin sounded extremely selfish and cruel... Anyways, to Tinarah. I'll catch up with you later if I can." With that, she gave Torrin a little wave and then headed off towards the music. She paused at the door, peeking inside to see that it was Tinarah at the grand piano. She could see tears streaming down the girl's face and Aria smiled sadly as she brought a hand to her heart. It was strange to see her so grown up whereas just a few days ago she was a child. Now she was almost her age, and maybe more broken. When the song came to a stop, Aria cleared her throat and stepped in the room. "Hey Tinarah," she said softly as to not startle her and stayed in her line of sight. She stopped by the piano, not knowing if she should sit down on the bench next to Tinarah or stay where she was at. "... How are you holding up?" she finally asked in a gentle tone. "That meeting was intense back there..."
‘Heeeey,’ Aria thought when Master Kaio said she wasn’t clever. Even though she said she was, it felt more of a backhanded compliment. She then held back growling under her breath in frustration when she was told it was best for her to stay in the Master’s’ sight, only to have Torrin stand up for her. She was surprised, given with how little time they’ve known each other. And then she was told if five princesses were captured, she had to stay put behind the walls. Her shoulders fell with disappointment. She knew the reasons behind it, but it was still frustrating to her. She wanted to be alongside her friends and helping them, not sitting back and watching. She sighed out a little as they were dismissed, feeling a little disheartened by the whole ordeal. Aria’s thoughts were interrupted when Torrin came over and asked her a question. She gave him an amused smile and giggled a bit. “No, no... he’s more like a good friend of our family. He used to come see me every year on my birthday until he disappeared. And sometimes he would come when we really needed him... which was rare.” She heard beautiful music coming down the hallway when they reached the second floor and looked in that direction. Then she noticed Take kind of discombobulated, and shuffling away to be on his own. So many hearts were suffering in some way or another, and Aria wanted to reach out to every one of them... she knew that was impossible though. “Things really are different now,” Aria mumbled to herself as she went to reach for a necklace... only to find nothing there. That’s right, she lost that one a while ago. Still, it was habit to try to hold it between her fingers to find comfort. Instead, she fiddled with her friendship bracelet Mika gave her, not knowing what else to say since her mind was still comprehending what went down in the meeting.
Aria listened carefully to Boreas' explanation. As she did, a thought suddenly came to her. Maybe it was because she was overwhelmed with all that was going on earlier, but she realized what it meant for the Council to keep at least one of princesses out of the Light Chaser's grasp. Or what it could mean. When it seemed like Boreas and Torrin said their peace, Aria cleared her throat and looked up at the masters from where she stood. "Pardon me... I'm a little slow. But what do you have in mind for keeping at least one of the princesses safe?" she asked. She felt all eyes staring at her and resisted the urge to scrunch her shoulders and duck her head. Instead, she stood a little taller and took in a quick breath. "I'm assuming that one princess refers to me?" She placed a hand on her chest with a little raise of her eyebrow and then looked to the two from the Realm of Darkness. "... With the way things have been going, or at least from my understanding, we need as many keyblade wielders as possible out there." She then glanced at Gero for a brief moment and then looked to the other masters, folding her arms over her chest. "If keeping me safe means I have to stay here while my friends go out there and put their necks out to protect the rest of us, that's not going to sit well with me. And this castle reminds me too much of a box. Not as small, and it's furnished and nice... but a box. I don't do boxes. Besides, it kind of seems like a bad idea to keep all of your power in one place, at least to me. You have a way to know of remaining three princesses not yet found by the Light Chaser, and then me. What if the Light Chaser finds a way to overrun this place? If he has the ability to send others to another place in space and time, heal scars like they weren't even there in a manner of minutes, and restore a world almost fallen into darkness in almost a day, what's not to say he's going to muster enough courage to face the rest of the masters here? Especially if he gets desperate to get the last piece when there's not more princesses to get... Wouldn't it be better if the one you had was constantly on the move?" She then frowned a little and let her arms fall to her sides. "And why settle on one princess being out of his grasp? Why not the rest of them that are out there?" She bit her tongue when she was about to say she felt like they were wasting their time here while the other princesses were in danger. She was already asking many questions and was severely out of her comfort zone. "All I'm saying is when I was back in my home world, I had to learn to defend my farm from wolf-like creatures tainted with darkness. I was told to stay back then, but after a while they needed me to step in. I don't want to sit here and wait for things to get resolve. I want to be out there and help figure things out, and I will. Obviously worlds are still falling to darkness, even with the Light Chaser out there trying to bring some of them back while... trying to fulfill other agendas like make everyone's darkness disappear and make things super unstable. And then Torrin's realm has people that wanna leave, and that may cause an upset of balance. I mean, I wouldn't want to live in a place where I have to watch out for Heartless all the time. At least that's... how I figure things are?" She looked over at the two from the Realm of Darkness and then back to the council. "So there's more than one issue going on here, and not enough people out there to find out the why's and how's."
Aria gave Tinarah one last hug before they both fell back in line where they were. She stood in her spot by Master Choma and Torrin, not knowing what to do with herself as she half-listened now to what was being said. She found the interaction between some of the masters amusing... And then Torrin told his side, along with important questions from Take. Tinarah's story about Other Torrin was disturbing... and she could see that the other Torrin before was visibly disturbed by it... Still, Take did have a few good points... The princess of heart sighed out silently, tucking a lose strand of hair behind her ear as she waited for the answer. She didn't feel like she had anything to offer to say at this time. It was mostly her own thoughts swimming around in her head. She never was good with politics to begin with... Or war for that matter...
A Price Unpaid- Gavin, Zephyr, Thea The maid shook her head. There was nothing more to tell on the matter. "Just only that we've failed countless times to keep the children safe... Every time the flute music sounds off anyways." "It's kinda scwary," Cindy admitted while the maid dried off her shoes. "It's wike a bad dweam. But you don't see anywing. You just get sleepy, and... sleep." The girl chewed on her cheek before she thought of something and pulled out a necklace of sorts from under her shirt. It was a small vile with blue liquid inside that glowed faintly with a silver spider wrapped around the cap of the container. "Maliel gave this to me before she stopped seeing me... Told me that a single drop cures almost any ailments and gave it to me for good luck..." She slipped it off her neck and handed it Zephyr, closing his fingers around it and pushed it towards him. "Whatever is happening... I think you need this more. Keep it hidden. Maliel told me the adults would take it away or get mad if they found it." Just then, the front door opened and in came in a young man with a couple of adults with boxes and goods coming in. Some of the children saw and immediately crowded around him, obviously happy to see him. "Alright, alright, settle down, you Candy Monsters," the young man joked with a chuckle as he ruffled a child's head. He then pulled out some lemon drops from his coat pocket and started to hand one or two out to each kid that came up to him until the crowd had been appeased. "Oooo, Jack! Not before dinner!" A maid chided as a child giggled and danced away with their piece of sweets. Jack sheepishly smiled and slipped his bag of lemon drops back in his jacket. "Whoops, did I really come that late?" He then spotted the little girl talking to Zephyr and quirked an eyebrow. "Hey Selena," who's your new friend?" The girl smiled shyly and shrugged. "This is one of the mages that's here about the flute guy." "Oh really?" Jack smiled warmly and nodded to Zephyr in respect. "I'm Jack. I'm the errand boy around here and make sure everything is stocked and good to go. It's good to see a guild coming to help us out." He then turned to Selena again and rubbed the back of his neck. "Has your sister come by to see you yet?" Selena's face fell and she shook her head. Jack seemed surprise by this news. "Still?" "Good evening, Jack," Kyo said as he approached and bowed in respect. Jack greeted him with a murmur and Kyo looked to Zephyr before looking to Jack. "There's some peculiar news in town today." "You mean besides the mages?" Jack said with a slight smirk and winked to Zephyr before Kyo held back an eye-roll. "Farmer Gav is giving away baby chicks again. Only one..." Kyo then glanced to where Thea was. "Possibly two..." Jack suddenly grew serious and rubbed the back of his neck. "So soon? Mmm... How's the weather going to be?" "Storms might be at three," Kyo said with a little shrug of his shoulder and pulled out his pocket watch to have a look. "Also, Farmer Gav is still holding on to that calico cat." He looked to Selena who was sitting there quietly for the whole conversation. "He's thinking of giving away her only kitten instead of one of the baby chicks." A flash of anger seemed to cross over Jack's eyes before he sighed out and then picked up the box of goods. "That's a shame... Hopefully it'll be a good rain storm tonight. Well, it was nice to meet ya," he said to Zephyr, "but I have to go put away some groceries. I wish you mages good luck." He then saluted to him and walked away from the group. A bell rang, and Miss Prine was standing there with a stiff expression about her. "Time for dinner, children. And it's time for our guests to be off." She brought her glasses up to her nose and cleared her throat at Gavin, Thea, and Zephyr. Kyo bowed politely. "Of course, Miss Prine." He then looked to the three, Thea, Zephyr, and Gavin, and smiled to them. "I'm afraid we must make our leave now..."
A Price Unpaid- Gavin, Zephyr, Thea The maid went back to cleaning off the mud off of the little girl's shoes, paying attention to Gavin's questions. "Well, it's happened at least six times since I've been here helping over the last... three months I want to say? There's always fog that rolls into town, we live in a swamp after all. But this kind of fog has a mind of its own... It seems to move on its own, and it makes it hard for anyone to see in. When we hear the flute, we try to cover our ears and muffle it out. Sometimes we are successful, and sometimes not. When we're not, that's when everyone ends up falling asleep, and then we wake up to find one of children gone. It's very disconcerting..." The boys ooed and awed over the strange magic that was just demonstrated to them. "Can you do that again?" The boy with the suspenders asked with excitement. The boy with the green eyes nudged his friend and smiled. "I'm Theo. The shy one over there is Teddy, and this excited one is Tristan. We're all brothers. I'm the oldest one. Teddy and Tristan are twins. It's nice to meet you, Thea." "I dunno," she answered honestly. "She was coming to see me when we were first brought here a few months ago. And then it suddenly stopped. She hadn't told me why... I wasn't told why." She then looked up at the adults, seeing that they were busy and looked at the mage. "Something weird is going on," she whispered under her breath. "N-not just with the flute and the kids disappearing, but something else. I can't explain it well... Sometimes... Sometimes kids go missing without the flute music coming. They get taken away by guards late at night, and we never see them again." She pressed her lips in a thin line and looked down at the ball when another servant walked by, chasing after a rambunctious little boy. Once they left, she hesitantly looked at Zephyr and continued on. "Sometimes when we eat dinner, we get really sleepy... So all of us sleep through it. Except I was awake and I swear I saw the guards take them away. And then when we ask where they went... We're told their families moved away, but no one ever leaves Mudgav... No one."
Light skin is like: I much prefer the darkness...
