Arcane Tales

Derek: <Ah, well I won't press the matter any further then. May I at least know your names?>

*He glanced over at Soul and raised an eyebrow in concern.*

Derek: <Are you okay, miss?>

James: <...James.>

*James sighs as he continues walking.*

Derek: <A pleasure to meet the two of you.>

*He nods and continues following the guard. He puts one of his hands in his pockets and the other on his sword's hilt.*

James: (Yeah, the pleasure isn't mine.)

"Alto Crive, General of the 4th detachment of the Royal Knight's of Alda."

"Creed Baticule, a commander in the same detachment."

Allina: <A-Allina Daelph, Sephiran apprentice priestess, sir. Nice to meet you.>

*They arrive at the palace and the guards escort them to the throne room. The silver haired man I described a few posts back is standing by the throne, staring at them quietly*

King: <Welcome to my palace, my friends. Thank you Derek. First of all, I would like to thank you all for defeating that foul creature. I heard two of you are Aldanian Knights. I knew the King of Alda would be sending officials to collect information regarding the monster attacks, but I never expected you to arrive a few hours after the letter... Well, we'll discuss that later. I would like for you all to stay and have dinner with us, as a reward for your courageous actions.>

???: <(Your Majesty, look at them. Are they truly worthy of such an honor?)>

Creed goes to grip Alto by the shoulder to stop him but it's too late. Alto's blade is pointed at the throat of the naysayer, "Wanna say that again? Might be your only chance."

"ALTO DAMNIT!! Don't cause an incident!" Creed facepalmed.

*James hears a bit of what the man is saying and bursts into rage.*

James: <What did you say?!>

*Derek, being a man of reason, stands in the middle of all the tumult.*

Derek: <Please, no fighting. There's no need.>

*He turns to face the man who spoke against the travellers.*

Derek: <If the king says it, then so shall it be.>

*The man laughs a bit and walks away from Alto's*

???: <Grumpy, are we?>

King: <Now, now, Crone, no need to be rude to my guests. Go back to your research, I will summon you when I'm free to listen to the rest of your report.>

*Crone nods and bows gently to the king before walking out, smiling at the group*

King: <You must be very tired from your battle. Do you want to rest before dinner, or does any of you have anything else in mind?>

Allina: <I think I could use a little rest...>

*She'd been glaring at James the whole time, blushing somewhat*

OOC: Oh god... what name for a lackey...

Derek: <Well that's over and done with...>

*He sighs and regains his composure, looking up at the decorated celing of the throne room.*

Alto stands down but remaisn alert.

James: <Rest...?>

*James looks at the king with distrust.*

James: (I shouldn't let my guard down in this situation...)

*Derek hears Soul's request and nods to the king.*

Derek: <May I take care of Miss Soul, sire?>

Kentaro:<What a creepy bastard.>

*Kentaro is looking about being all suspicious and shit.*

"I don't think any guards will come after us."

Kentaro: (Even if that's true, I'm not being too careful.)

King: <Please do, Derek.>

*Timeskip! Soul had a bath and got new clothes, Allina rested, and the others did whatever during the afternoon. A few hours later, they're all sitting around a long wooden table eating all sorts of food. There's an empty seat on the King's left, and Crone is nowhere to be found.*

King: <I hope you enjoy the food, our chef is a true artist. Now, tell me about this monster. Allina has told me it didn't Return(*) after being defeated.>

*He takes a moment to sip some wine and looks at Creed and Alto, sitting side by side*

King: <You and I will meet Crone later to listen to his report.>

(*) When a monster dies it turns into a sphere of light that fades away. They are said to be Returning to the magic world.

*James remains silent, still uneasy about this whole thing.*

*Derek has a rather small looking plate of food in front of him. He's nibbling at it slowly, trying not to impose himself on the others. He keeps silent and listens to his uncle speak.*

Alto is ripping at the food on his plate like some sort of savage.

"Forgive general Crive he has been hungry since the trip here began"

"Mouf wough yeouhgh Crough" Alto says unintelligably through mouthfulls of food.

*Kari is picking at a plate of food. Kentaro is picking at his own plate taking in a mouthful every now and again still looking around all suspicious and shit.*

*He nods, smiling to Soul*

King: <No need to apologize, Sir Baticule. ...I see you're all very quiet people.>

*Allina pinches James' arm*

Allina: <(Are you all right?)>

King: <Once again, my apologies my soldiers didn't arrive on time to help you fight the monster.>

Allina: <It was a pretty odd monster, and I'm pretty sure I have seen it somewhere before...>

King: <Oh? Then perhaps a-->

*Allina gets up all of a sudden, widening her blue eyes and stares at the king*

Allina: <Your Majesty, do you have a library!?>

King: <Why, of course, down the hall behind us, but why do-->

*She runs off down the hall*

Allina: <James, James, come along!>