Hearing the jiggling in his pouch, Node realized that they had a problem. She didn't have any money and she had no idea if there was a way to buy things with coins. I mean, as far as I know, you can't buy things in Japan with coins. But maybe we can in this version?
She looked over the knight once again. Even if shops in this Japan accept coins, his armour will certainly attract attention.
“…”
Node was deep in thought for a few moments. I know what I’ll do. She remembered certain group of people who didn’t look much different from the knight. They didn’t interested her very much but she knew enough about them to be able to use them as cover. If anyone asks, Mr. Tyrant is a cosplayer. Or a chuunibyo. Yes.
“Do not worry Mr. Tyrant, I figured out what to do. We will not even need coins.” Node replied to Tyrant’s words with a straight face, her emotionless voice still managing to give away a hint of confidence.
“Anyway, to confirm your earlier suspicion, I am familiar with this place, although maybe with a different version of it. Where are you from Mr. Tyrant?”
Rook nodded at her cryptic answer. It did little to ease his reservations despite her obvious confidence.
"I..."
In his own world it was well known that the Tyrant Sword was a lone survivor out of the coup that gave rise to the Third Empire three hundred years ago. But he hesitated. Now he was with someone who didn't know of the Tyrant knight, the coup, or the Third Empire. Even if he were to give his instinctive answer she would have no idea what he was talking about.
"I grew up on a small farm just outside of the capital of the Third Empire."
This was where he, Rook, was born. At the moment he decided it would be too complicated to to explain the name that he had chosen to give her. @Medjedovic
@Dezuel@Altasaire Wynther and Dezuel found themselves in complete darkness, nothing to see or find. That is, until a flashlight turned on and revealed a creepy mask, painted with an equally sinister smile. The person behind the mask could be heard inhaling and then exhaling deeply. after this, a bright pink light filled the area, allowing the boys to see each other and their surroundings. The source of the pink light, seemed to be a large pink bundle of something hair-like on top of the joker's large, flamboyant hat, certainly this only added to the flamboyency of the hat. The group appeared to be in a limestone cave, standing beside a small (underground) lake.
"Welcome"
The clown's voice echoed through the cave, brimming with apparent confidence. "Beautiful place, this, isn't it? It's actually a popular tourist spot as well, though entry is normally forbiddden at this time of day. Now, this cave is roughly half a kilometre long, and this is the far end as you can see. Which means you'll have some hiking to do. Why would you get out of here in the first place? Where are we? Good questions left unasked! The jester chuckled at his own joke. "This, is Japan, a well-populated island with a lot of beautiful places, but more importantly, you are currently in the world of your 'gods'; those who created your world and dictated your fates. All horror, bloodshed and tragedy is their fault. But don't get me wrong, all happiness is also their doing. Twisted isn't it? But fret not, no matter what it is you think you should do with them, you can do it now. You're no longer under their control, and you are in their world, you could simply walk up to them and tell them you hate them. Alternatively, you could not do that, perks of freedom and all that. Either way, I strongly suggest that meeting the one who created you, your 'parent' if you will."
The jester had put emphasis on the word 'parent', and his smile grew wicked as he did so. Then, the clown slid their hand under it and revealed a watch around a feminine wrist. "It seems you have one hour until people start arriving, better get going." He put down the flashlight in front of the pair and with a deep breath, the pink light once more faded. The only light left was the light the flashlight emitted, rendering most of the area invisible again. Under the guise of this darkness, the joker hovered backwards, before coming to a standstill above the middle of the underground lake.
Aomori
@LazyJustice@Progenitus Anathea's voice firmly sounded across the deserted courtyard she now found herself in. From the looks of it, she had appeared near an old japanese castle, specifically in front of a moat filled with cherry blossom petals to the point where the water underneath was completely covered. She wasn't alone, but something surely had gone wrong, as neither of the people with her was her brother. Instead, she had appeared beside a joker-like figure and a shady-looking man with a distorted shadow. The clown seemed to be the least fazed among the members of the group, in fact, he looked rather comfortable and he even had a tea-set laid out in front of him. Before long before he spoke up.
"Welcome, welcome. How nice of you to join us today. How are you doing, are you enjoying this lovely weather?" On cue, a gentle breeze blew through the courtyard. "Let's move on to the main topic now that everything is ready. You might wonder why you're here right now, despite being somewhere else a mere momen ago? The answer is irrelevant, but the result is crucial. Because you are here now, you are no longer bound by fate, this--" the jester spread his arms and turned a full circle, effectively gesturing all around him. "--this is the world in which your 'gods' live, the ones who created you and put you through countless ordeals, and you can simply stand on their doorstep and knock on their door. Of course, what you do after that is your own concern. Perhaps you can make them change your world, or perhaps you have justice to deliver. For now, I suggest you go find them and do what must be done."
The clown sat down on his knees and picked up a cup, gently sipping his tea now that he was once more done with his speech. There were 3 cups in total, but it was less than certain they'd be welcome to pick up one, seeing he had just told them off.
Going to progress the scene since it's been more than a week since you were even online, Dargus. I'd appreciate it if you'd at least tell us you're going somewhere beforehand, so that we know you'll be gone for a while. Thanks in advance.
The jester smiled at Kira's question. "Surprisingly, you're the first to ask. The year is 2018, which I believe is roughly a decade before your timeline. The dam is fine, though." After answering the question, the jester escorted Kira and Rika through the city's back alleys. The few people at he harbor had decided to ignore them as they left, and few people beside those even noticed the group. The only holdup was a small group of fangirls approaching the group, wanting to take a picture with the "cosplayers".
A few minutes of walking later, the group arrived at an onsen that seemed hopelessly out of place as it was built in the classic japanese style, despite being surrounded only by modern buildings. While the jester assured them it was a luxurious and popular place, the lack of customers didn't help that claim, though that could be because it was early in the morning. The jester entered an area labeled 'Employees only' and gestured for Rika and Kira to follow. It turned out to be a break-room of sorts, with a wooden floor, a large table, a few chairs and a row of two-metre tall lockers. The jester approached one that had a wooden ornament resembling their mask on it, opened it and revealed a thin staircase inside.
"Almost there." The jester said, leading them down the stairs into an odd, almost laboratory-like room. Unlike the rest of the onsen, the walls, the ground and even the ceiling were made of stone. In the middle of the room was a large cylindrical machine, resembling some kind of pod, but it was covered by a metal shutter. Placing himself between the group and the machine, the jester gestured towards a door on one side of the square room. "You can get changed in there, pick any outfit you like. Towels are in the cabinet next to the couch."
Inside the room stood several closets, covering all the walls entirely, true to the jester's words, this was quite definitely a changing room. And the couches in the middle of the room seemed rather comfortable, too. cabinet weren't just towels, but also several ties and cans of bodyspray. In the closets were lines of both formal and informal clothing. Business suits, shirts, sweaters, jackets, jeans, pantalons, sweatpants, the jester's collection included a little bit of everything and most things in several different colors. Oddly enough, rahter than just inconspicuous outfits, there were even some stranger outfits, including something that couldn't be much other than a mage's robes.
The jester's voice could be heard from outside the room. "Hurry up changing. I'll have something waiting for you in break room."
The doors had flung open, the guards had been subdued and Izarain stepped into the throneroom. Each footstep echoing along the now empty halls which once held seats for the various noble houses of Marah Skaran. At the end of the room, sitting on the throne were the traitor himself.
"My my, you are quite the rusted spring aren't you, Izarain? You who constantly try keep these cogs from spinning. It seems I shall have to be the one to remove you myself. I guess it is just fate." The uniformed man in armor said as he stood up from his throne, taking hold around the swordgrip of the blade he had so deviously stolen.
"It's over Dezuel, your dream will never be realized! Trying to create a world only for the elementalists, are you really intending on killing the entire world to see it come true?" The younger man with the white hair yelled throughout the room.
"The world? I am trying to save it from those whom has driven it towards it's self-destruction. The only way to save it is to pull out the bad plants that be contaminating it, and by doing so... restoring our blue world to how it should be." Dezuel answered in a chilling yet serious manner. His voice not trembling for a moment.
"I won't allow it. I will not let you kill all those innocent people to achieve this dellusional dream of utopia! Snap out of it!" A cruel laugh was heard from Dezuel before his reply could be uttered.
"Innocent? Their hands are stained with the blood of my people. They've tried to enslave the world. How could I possibly forgive them? You've seen it yourself do nay deny it! You are one of us after all!"
The whitehaired man gritted his teeth together in reply and narrowed his eyes, gripping around his sword and shield tightly.
"So this is how it will be? Is there nothing I can say to stop you? Can we not go back to how it used to be? We can all go home."A last glimmer of hope lingered in the man's eyes.
"I am home-" The blonde man was interupted.
The scene was filled with strange looking lights, the tapestries flew upwards and the furniture fell over and then the uniformed man was consumed in the light.
Present
A jesterlike figure appeared in the darkness of a cave, there were light created by some form of device. It's appearance was odd. But he had seen magical trinkets capable of producing light before. Then it was followed by some pink light throughout the room.
He was however not alone in seeing this Jester, another man stood next to him wearing a brimmed hat and some form of coat. No visible weaponry from what he could see. The light had also shown him a small underground lake in the cave they were now located within. He made a note of where it could be found inside the room. Dezuel listened to the jester as he spoke and watched the flashlight be left on the ground.
Is this some form of new illusion magic made to deceive me? Who in the world would possess the power to call me to this place? No this is different from the magic I've battled. Could the jester before me actually be telling the truth? Dezuel thought to himself.
Japan. An island. None I have ever heard about. But it does make sense then if it is indeed the realm of the gods themselves. This jester has allowed me entrance? For what reason I'd wonder? I shall find out in dear time. Patience shall reward those whom have it.
"Ahh.. now that was quite the tale, nay to mention you caught me in quite the moment. But pray tell, whom are you two in this... realm of the gods?"
Dezuel made a slight bowing motion towards first the shadows and then to the man next to him, with a slight upturn at the corner of his mouth. "I am Dezuel Incarnus, wielder of Astralus, leader of ELF."
Now time to pay a visit to the gods themselves... this shall be enlightening indeed. The thought amused him.
In an empty alley, two men are having a very heavy discussion. Leaning against my staff covered in eyes constantly darting around, I give my best winning smile and say, making sure to add plenty of honey to my words, "Fret not, you will be little more than a 'Witness' that called in the murder. It shouldn't take more than a phone call and a trip to the courtroom to give a testimony. Then your framed rival will be condemned and you get the promotion! My other client gets away with no trouble and gets to continue whatever it is he does. Its a Win/Win for us all isn't it?" The man in front of me is significantly shorter than I and his face is contorted with indecision. His mind hurriedly debating this mans words, as he struggles with his morality. "Alri....." Then, without any warning I find myself in the company of a clown sipping on tea and a woman with fiery red hair. After I finish listening to the clowns words I decide their is never any harm in being polite and take a seat, resting my staff in the crook of my elbow for easy access, while I take a test sip from the cup in front of him. Not my favorite blend, but I'm not one to be rude to my host. I lightly shrug as I nonchalantly say, "Although I hate to leave in the middle of work, it seems I don't have too much say in the matter. No matter, I have some saved up vacation time. Now that I've come to understanding the situation, or at least have as much of an understanding as you will let me," he says with some subtle bite to the last few words, "I would at least like to know those around me. My name is Adael, a 6 Wing Ex-Judicator of Heaven. Pleasure to have your acquaintance." Although the woman is obviously in the same boat as me, the clown is incredibly suspect as he doesn't seem to give any kind of clear aura that my staff's eyes can see.
"Wait," Minato said once Clara began sprouting even more weird lines. How come she doesn't know about even such things as to what's a computer or even a motorcycle? "Are you really so much into this cosplay, or did you live in a cave for your whole life?" He asked but then shrugged right after. "Whatever, it doesn't really matter. I've seen bigger weirdos before, either way."
"Beginning from your first question," Minato said still standing beside Clara. "I don't know what you've heard but we do wear Western clothes, the thing is that only Goth lolis wear that kind of getup you have there. It might not be a problem at the City, but countryside people might look at you in strange ways."
"JSDF are the military, that's not something you need to worry about either way. That was just a joke. There's no way they'll pop up out of the blue like that."
"As for this," Minato said, rubbing a hand at his bike just like it was his own child, "It's a motorcycle. I can either spend the time to tell you what it does, or I can show it to you," he added, smirking.
"So, what's gonna be?" Minato said, offering his hand to help Clara get on.
Anathea inhaled the air of this new world. Anathea exhaled the air with a faint puff of iridiscent smoke, letting her body acclimate to it. Anathea looked around, clamping down on a roiling confusion and mounting frustration, taking the vistas of this new world in her; she frowned: something was not right. Just a moment ago, she was lazing about in the inchoate emptiness, musing about her next scheme, before being dragged here; not an unusual occurence to one of the Rhishands, not in the slightest - what was strange is the world around her didn't sang to her, as if already murdered to a lifeless shell of itself by some passing scourge - so empty was the world of any dharma or purpose that for a moment, she doubted if it was not a phantasm of the void utterly vivid, tricking her weary mind in a fancy of convulsive action of one of the blind idiot gods of Is Not. It was not, however, for the structure surrounding her had the stability of what Is - which meant that somehow, this new reality she found transfused herself in lacked in purpose wholesale - and Anathea dearly hoped that this is just a fluke of locality, some terrible curse laid by cruel and surely uncaring "Gods" of this place upon the world for some unperceivable slight, and not a qualifier of the world altogether. Irritatingly, her idiot of a brother managed to get separated from her along the way and wandered off somewhere else; he must be somewhere in this world, for the Rhishands are inseparable until the day they would have to leave the stage and leave the story for others to tell, but that was not the first occasion he got lost and she had to retreive him. Thoughts of destruction he would wreak without her keeping him in check - again - made her right eye twitch a little bit. Still, those two legends here may be of some help; it's not the first time Anathea would have to cooperate with one of - presumably - Creation-born to get her point across, and would probably not be the last. Woman's eyes filled with glittering stars for a mere moment, before clearing up again as she nodded to her thoughts and rose her hand with three fingers outstretched: "First, introductions are indeed in order. I am Anathea Rhishand." - the woman's name dropped on those who listen like a block of heavy metal, resounding across the moat with echo born not of the volume of her words, which were spoken calmly - "One of the Rhishands, a rider - an agent, if you will - of Mythical Judgement. I cannot say whether you would be pleased or not to make an acquaintance with me, False Arbitrator, for you are unlike the agents of Heaven or Hell I have seen before; as for you, you [REDACTED] clown..." - Anathea shifted her gaze towards the jester sipping tea - "I would take my second and third questions to you, as you seem to be more knowledgeable in the ways this world moves; or, rather, not moves. Tell me, oh masked one, what is it with the lack of purpose that seems to pervade this world? How do people even live here, with this terrible emptiness stilling their hearts and snuffing their souls? I could hardly imagine a great and terrible ambition arising in such a set of conditions in any but the most fiery of the hearts, and the world without heroes is a sad, empty place, barely even worthy of judgement." - she paused in her tirade, exhaling and taking a moment to compose herself - "Finally, could you, perchance, tell me where to look for my wayward brother, one Wynther Rhishand? We got separated on the way here, and I am a bit worried about what he could be up to all on his lonesome."
"Cos-play?" Clara reiterated, tilting her head. Another word she didn't know the meaning of. With his comment about her living in a cave her whole life, she began to think that there was a possibility that she now was not standing on her old world. But it still could be that those things called "computer" and "cosplay" were something that was only popular on the Far East.
And then he proceeded to explain that they wore Western clothes here. But apparently, only something called "goth loli" wore what she was wearing, and how the folks at the countryside might look at her funny for it. Once again, she had no idea what this "goth loli" thing was. "I do not know what this goth loli is, but I do know that my outfit is pretty common back home in England. For girls my age, at the very least," she explained.
"Ah, so they're the local military," she replied once she heard his explanation about the JSDF. "I understood perfectly then why we should not fly in broad daylight. Back at my home, the local military there was not equipped in handling the surge of magical people ever since the Comet passed, to the point that the government banned all display of magic in public and told that all magicians currently residing in England must register to them. Mind you, this was after a whole company of them was slaughtered by a disgruntled factory hand who had destroyed the factory she was working in, killing all its workers currently on-site in the process. It took The Crimson Mage herself to take her down."
Suddenly, Clara's expression turned downcast all of a sudden. She remembered how her last meeting went with said Crimson Mage, or Mary, as she was given her name by her parents. Mary was the daughter of a Count with a position in the House of Lords, and she, like her father, wished what's best for England. Thus, she couldn't agree with her plan to cut off Earth from the magic dimension. She wished to employ the knowledge the elves had for the good of England. In the end, they had one last battle to decide who shall triumph. And after a long and hard-fought battle, Clara won in the end. Mary survived but Clara felt bad for what would become of her when the connection between the two dimensions was severed. She would lose her magic, and she would return to being a normal noble girl. And she very well knew Mary hated that. They had been good friends after all.
"Very well. I suppose you ride this thing like a horse?" she asked as she took Minato's hand, settling herself on the back seat of the motorcycle. She then hugged Minato firmly with her hands as she had never rode a horse before, and she knew just how bumpy they could be. @KoL
"2018," Kira Tachibana tried to hide his shock. "Yes, that is indeed a decade before everything began to go really wrong in my world." It shocked him that he believed it so easily, but the proof was right in front of him. He allowed the Jester to take him and Rika into an onsen, which, in turn, held a secret facility containing various sets of clothing. This guy must have some resources, were Kira's thoughts before he used some body spray before putting on a set of classy, but casual clothing, the sort that one would wear to a date.
Kira didn't totally trust the Jester, not yet. But with Rika being...inactive, and himself being a stranger without money or connections in his more technologically primitive place, he needed to build a rapport. And so, he would go to the break room, though not after a glance at the strange apparatus in the square room.
@Medjedovic@TheFake After a good while of chatting, walking and almost freezing to death in the metal suit, Rook had reached the town with Node. He was certainly not a feeble man, but even the warmth of the sun seemed unable to defeat Hokkaido's frozen terrain. Tough as he was, there would be no avoiding a cold for him, but at least he managed the town before suffering hypothermia. It'd be best for him to get inside as soon as possible, but the locals looked rightfully distrusting of the man in full plate.
In the town, there were plenty of public buildings, but moving around was going to be difficult due to the less-than-subtle presence of Rook in his armor. The duo could barely take three steps into the town before a woman, of approximately 50 years approached them. "Oi! What's your business here, stranger?" Alongside the woman a few other people slowly gathered. People started riling each other up and mumblings like "You better not be planning something." and "Someone like that can't be up to any good." started to form in the crowd. They definitely seemed on edge, but it was not hard to figure out they expected Rook to be up to something.
Node, meanwhile, received little to no glances of suspicion, in fact, she was almost ignored entirely. Node could probably walk away without any real effort, but since she was wearing his cloak, she was faring a lot better in the cold than the knight himself.
Aomori
@LazyJustice@Progenitus Frowning slightly upon the fallen angel's introduction, the jester sighed. "I know what you do, don't try to make me the bad guy in this. As for a name, no matter how much I'd like to give you one, I am unfit to wield it. Instead, please refer to me as a jester, for it is the closest description of who I am now."
As Anathea introduced herself and turned to him, the 'clown' slipped a small notebook out of his sleeve and wrote down a few things while she spoke. He nodded boredly while she asked her questions in long-drawn sentences, eliciting a yawn before the end of it. When she eventually finished, the jester closed the notebook shut with a loud clap. First of all, I'm not a clown, I do not make my living in the circus. I am a jester, which means that I mock and jest, and you, young lady, are very suited to be mocked right now. One does not make a feeble attempt at insult before expecting information, it is inefficient as you'll drive the person you're questioning to be unwilling to answer.
The jester's mask warped into a smug grin. "Of course, as such a benevolent host, I'll still be so kind as to answer your pitiful questions... Perhaps." The jester emphasized each word the praised himself or mocked his opponent, clearly trying to draw out some reaction. "While it is true that this world isn't a beatly mess like your own, it isn't entirely without merit. The few people who think like you have mostly ended up as stains on the street, after throwing themselves from a high building. Any lack of purpose you'll find stems from yourself, purpose is something one grants oneself here."
Agonizingly slowly, the jester spoke his next sentence. "As for your brother..." His mask briefly turned contemplative, but soon returned to the sadistic grin. "Who knows? I'm sure he's having a blast right now, so why don't you relax a little, too. No need to be shy, we're all friends here, after all. Get to know your partner here, make some new friends, find the ones who dictated your fates, have a good time in general, that kind of thing."
After barely a moment, the jester hit his fist into an open palm in a gesture of mock-surprise. "Don't tell me, you still rely on your older brother, despite being old enough to be expected to be independent? That's adorable! Frankly, he kind of has to be south of here, since we're pretty much to the northern end of Japan, well, there's also Hokkaido, but that place doesn't matter, does it?" It was just a little too clear, everything from the way the jester spoke, to his body language, it all indicated he was trying to hide something.
Anathea sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, musing for a second about how that clownish mannequin reminded her of some less likeable figures of the Judgement, then expended a miniscule fraction of mental effort and shrugged, spreading her arms in a genial gesture and smiling warmly: "Well, I offer you my sincere gratitude for what little knowledge you saw fit to provide me, Empty Face. However, if that is the extent of the help offered, I must bid you farewell and depart." - she made a short, formal bow towards the clown and began turning to go, but then paused, back to her serious demeanor - "Presently, I have no desire for company save that of my brother; Do not pursue Anathea Rhishand." - those last words dropped on those listening like a heavy block of stone, making it very clear that a company would be very much unwelcome. During her short stay with the clown, Anathea learned several things - more than enough, she felt, to embark on her own journey of discovery. Her musings went roughly as such: - this indeed is a world of people; - apparently, said people were acclimated to the lack of dharma, and learned to make do without, though there were apparently some side-effects to that. Therefore, answers could be sought out amongst the people themselves. - unless that mock-up of a clown lied to her, her brother should be placed somewhere within the same country; searching for him would be troublesome, but not exceedingly so, unless the idiot would decide to leave the country. - judging by the state of the castle at the northmost border of the country, and the state of the road leading to it, this is a prosperous realm; therefore, it must have a strong capital, with some or other sort of information exchange network in place - perfect place to start her search from. - logically, her brother would do the same, unless diverted to some other destination; nevertheless, signs left in the capital would attract his attention at a much faster pace than those left at the border of the realm. - the same information network would be a useful tool in ferreting out location of their father dearest, if he has any sort of publicity here; he would probably have much to explain about lack of purpose of present world. - thus, her main task for the moment would be acquiring transportation towards the capital. Deciding on the course of action, Anathea thought for a moment on a specific approach and decided that she'd be best suited with a quiet, circumspect approach - perhaps, starting with observing the locals from the distance, learning their language and mannerisms, observing their way of life, as to not stand out too much along the way. Alas, both the jester and the mock-up of an angel would attract too much of an attention, so she would not be able to afford such company at the moment; perhaps, later, when she's more ingrained in this world... Deciding on the specific manner of action, the woman went to leave alongside the road away from the castle - presumably, that road would lead her to the nearby settlement, for castles were rarely built without one nearby, and regardless of the function that castle serves today, there must be the legacy of said settlement left, which she could study.
Never being one to leave a woman alone in a foreign land, Adael decided to follow along for now. "I do apologize for my intrusion after being so thoroughly shot down, but I must ask. Are you familiar with the lay of the land? Because if not, I do suggest making our way to Tokyo, this nation's Capitol. Japan is a small island nation, but it is densely populated and would make finding your brother quite a bother." After giving a brief pause to let it sink in, he continues. "Since I'm on vacation, I wouldn't mind acting as your guide to pass the time. I do also have a small interest in what the Heaven and Hell you're familiar with is like." He then gives a proper bow with a small flourish of his staff that shrinks down to the size of a cane, offering his hand in greeting. So little Miss Four Horseman, do we have an agreement? He finishes while giving one of his more pleasant smiles.
Node was a little taken aback by how aggressive the people were when they saw Tyrant. True, she expected some suspicion and maybe someone calling the local policeman, but this was beyond her predictions. It took her a few moments to act, but realizing that Tyrant is probably even more confused by the townsfolk’s reaction than she was, Node stepped in front of the knight with her hands raised in a “stand back” sign.
“Step back please, this person is somewhat shy and you are scaring him. He is a cosplayer so that is why he wears those clothes. He is totally not a dangerous or suspicious person who is up to no good.”
Well, Node thought to herself, I actually don’t know if that’s true. He may actually be v villain in the world he came from. Turns out, interpersonal interaction is quite hard when you are not telepathically connected to the other person. Hopefully, her being too trusty towards Tyrant would come back to bite her in the backside.
Anathea abruptly stopped, wheeling around to pierce - almost literally it seemed for a moment, such was a pressure of emotional intensity contained within - Adael with the stare of her amber eyes. "Can you not take a hint?" - she cocked her head to the side, taking a measure of the angel once more - "And calling me one of the Four is an empty praise; though we are worthy members of the Judgement in our own right, our power and glory is but a pale twinkle compared to their own prowess. Dare not diminishing it." - she shook her head, then abandoned her indignant tone, becoming calm and matter-of-fact - "Look. Even if your world was a perfect mirror of this one, travelling with you would attract too much of an attention with that magnanimous with the truth it shows shadow of yours. So, your value as a guide is greatly diminished to me, as you would also guide those with eyes to see towards us; I would rather not intrude upon the workings of this world for now." - she shifted her attention to his shapeshifting staff - "So, unless your shadow could change its form the same way....." - cutting herself off, she returned her gaze towards Adael - "What is it you hope to gain by travelling with me? I have no desire for worldly power or struggle, and would not support you should you get yourself in trouble, if my protection and support is what you are after. If the only thing that guides you in this is an idle curiosity - we could just find a quiet spot and swap the stories of our worlds; me, I would tell you about how Heaven intrudes and the Hell that was always there, you, I expect to tell me what do you know of your own world's setting of this place. How does this sound to you, then?"
He sighed and stood up straighter, willing his limbs to be still for just a few seconds. The padding under his armor was staving off the wind but was doing little for the cold.
"I hope your plan has more to it than just telling them we're not a threat. We need to blend in more."
To be honest, little of what she said made any sense. As things were he badly needed to find somewhere warm. Rook left the main street and began to work his way behind some shops and out of the wind. The knight took his coin pouch from his belt and held it out.
"I doubt most of it is any good but there's some gold that should be worth something. I'll need warmer clothing and something to carry my armour in as well. You shouldn't have any problem moving around."
With any luck she could be trusted. Stealing something for himself was always an option but might make things more difficult in the long run. He crouched down in a corner and bowed his head to wait.
Adael seems to ponder her offer for a few seconds before replying. Hmm, I can't say I am not curious what other worlds have to offer, but that is not my intent nor do I believe we have that kind of free time if you are indeed in a hurry to find your brother. I simply think it'd be safer for you to not travel alone is all. As a gentleman I can't leave a lone woman to her own devices in a foreign land full of those who'd like to take advantage of one like yourself. And the issue with my shadow isn't of any real concern. You'd be surprised how blind mortals can be. And that's saying something coming from a blind man. He finishes his statement with a friendlier smile and offering his hand once again. The shadow wings seems to spread out as if stretching in a very bird like manner for a brief second as if to punctuate how it won't be a problem. Now, if your brother is anything like you. I could actually offer assistance in locating him. If this world is as similar to mine as it seems, it shouldn't be any trouble for me to locate anyone standing out. Whether its by flying or making connections.
