[IC] Justice

[ClosetMonster]

Maddy was led to yet another grand, large hall that ended in a large door of heavy wood with golden trimming. Two guards stood out the front, each armed and alert as one of the girls who attended to the castle led another girl in an elegant gown. Neither of the guards recognized Maddy, and both bared the way. The girl flinched back slightly and looked to both of them. “This girl had made a request to see Sir Justin.” She said softly, the fear in her voice evident as she eyed the long spears.

The eyes of both men again fell to Maddy, they recognized the clothes she wore as marking her of a higher class, but she also looked dirty, and they couldn’t ignore the fact that they didn’t recognize who she was. Eventually one spoke, his voice deep and firm. “I’m sorry, Milady, but he is in a meeting with the other World Walkers and we’re under strict instruction that no one must disturb them. Though as he said this there was a noise as the doors opened, causing both men to jump as Justin emerged, as if he had known they had been talking about him.

He looked tired and drained, but still offered Maddy a small, happy smile as he saw her. Walking out of the room he walked over to her and placed his hand gently on her back, guiding her gently back the way they had come. He stopped for a moment and then turned back to the men that had been guarding the room. “Good job boys, it’s alright, you can go now. We’re done. Take the rest of the day off if you like?” Giving Maddy another content little smile he gestured towards the hallway. “You look like you enjoyed your little adventure.” He smiled a little more genuinely now but still looked very tired.

“So I spoke to the other Glammed Ones, and they’ve all said that there is no sign of Thor rising. As it stands, with Tydan already awake we cannot afford to dwell here and wait for him. So I’ve left the task with Cynthia and the others. I suspect Thor is more likely to listen to those who have lived here longer anyway. This means we’ll be departing for the One Sea very soon, I had hoped to leave tomorrow. Will that be alright with you? Unfortunately we’ll only be able to take what we can carry and we’ll need to change again, something more suited for travelling. I’m not entirely sure where we’ll end up near the One Sea, so it’s best to be prepared and I’m hoping to get more appropriate clothes before we head out once again.”

He sighed softly, realising he was getting a little carried away and slowed his walk, which had become brisk with the idea of being busy. “I’m sorry Maddy, for all this rushing around, this change and all the confusion it must bring you. If circumstances were different I’d love to give you all the time at places you wanted, all the training you needed. But time just... isn’t o our side at the moment.”

~~
Maddy had stopped with the reaction of the guards and had stood, lost for a moment as she'd realized she had been told to keep her “status” to herself which in turn would have kept her outside waiting on Justin. It was another shock after having realized she was so far from home, that she hadn't really been apart from Justin the entire while. At least, not apart in a way she could not find her way back to him easily. He was on the other side of the door and while she knew him to be within reach, she also was not allowed to take the last few steps to his side.

The fact resounded and she chewed on her lip long after he'd appeared and taken her arm. As he ushered her away, his voice low and careless in her ear, as if he did not once have to consider what he was going to say or why, she took a close look inside to see if there was any particular drive behind the sense of rightness which had appeared the moment he'd claimed her before the guards.

No answer readily available, Maddy let go of the entire endeavor and instead focused on the young man at her side. She slowed along with him, glad the moment he'd slowed though she hadn't realized until that moment how she'd had to press to keep up with him, and she smiled. “It's okay, Justin. I understand.” And she did, almost. The concept that he was driven by, the end of the world, still felt far away. She had been atop a flying dragon like horse, before an actual goddess, speaking of the worlds and their demise, was a surreal reality which hadn't come to her complete awareness. She knew it, in the way one knows the sun rises on the other side of the mountains first, but until one feels the heat, the sun hasn't begun to Be just yet.

Still, she could understand the smaller pieces of the larger picture. “So what manner of clothing will we need in the One Sea? Will it be cold or warm?” She knew seas, had heard stories of them. The vastness of blue, the white birds in the sky, the great fish under the waves, it was something she could only imagine. “Besides,” she added as she clasped her hands together in nervous anticipation, “I would like to see this next place.”

[Midna-Phobia]

“It needs to be light, non restrictive and lose” He began, knowing that there was a room in the castle somewhere that held what they needed. “So that it dries quickly but also keeps the sun off. There’s a room in here that has clothing from all the nine realms, collected from travellers like me over the years. They might be a bit too big or too small and it may be a bit dated when we go there. But it’s easier than showing up in clothes like this and having to explain why we look so out of place. We don’t need another welcome like we had here.”

He smiled at her as he ran his hand along the wall, letting his eyes close for a moment before he turned down a hallway quickly. He was glad that she seemed very excited about the next place; however it caused him a lot of anxiety too. She was only learning to swim just now. Whilst they were out on the ocean they’d been out on the water the whole time, surrounded by it. If she ever fell in... he shook his head quickly to dismiss the thought. She wasn't incapable of swimming, but a rip or undertow could easily pull her away before he could react.

When they arrived at a set of pail wooden doors. He placed his hand upon it and waited a moment before pushing it inward. Inside he looked around before moving over towards the back left corner where the clothing was majorly white with oranges, yellows and blues but with touches of gray and red as well. There wasn't a lot to pick from, and he stepped back slightly before beckoning Maddy over. “Go ahead and pick anything you like.” He told her he encouraged as he stepped back, figuring that she would be happy that there weren’t any skirts to be found.

There were some pieces that wrapped around the waist and behaved bit like a skirt, but mostly it was knee length baggy pants. Sitting back he let his head flop forwards and he inspected his dirty blonde hair. He really needed to wash it at some point. Between everything it had grown way out and was starting to look more brown than blonde. Besides that he also thought about where they would have to go next. A bit ambitious, he knew, to think they’d succeeded and be planning for that already, but he needed to. Things would only get harder after the One Sea.

The Middle World was too big. It would take too long to locate her. He wanted to avoid certain places as long as possible but he was starting to run out of options. The one sea was big too. It looks like Maddy’s world had to come next. The Outlands and the Underworld were just too risky right now with her level of training. Some worlds were more dangerous than others and it was those worlds he feared bringing her to the most.

[ClosetMonster]

Maddy searched the various cloths and pieces of clothing, holding this or that up to herself and making sense of what went where. To some extent, each land, each world, had clothes which covered the various parts of the body – so long as one knew what to cover, then the smaller bits and pieces came together. She found a wrap or two which seemed long to be a sash, but she put these to the side and instead, focused on what made sense to her. A long sleeved shirt with a break in the fabric from the wrist to under the arm, and billowing pants gathered at the ankles. There were a multitude of foot gear and she grabbed both a pair of strap on sandals and some light leather boots. Then a tunic which split down the fore and a skirt as well, mindful of how she'd been told to wear something differently the last time.

With her arms full of the extras, she exited and held herself for his perusal. It was yellows and blues, like a daffodil in the sun, and she smiled at him. He was exhausted and looked like a traveler where he'd once been a soldier. She hadn't looked too closely at herself, but as she'd never been much of anything, she didn't expect she'd changed overly much. Still tanned from too much sun and still with her mousy hair gathered in the braid at her back. Though the tie had changed now and again as they'd moved from place to place.

“I wasn't sure which to wear,” she held out the boots and the sash and others then discarded those he felt were unnecessary while putting on the things he felt she would need. He was her guide and so much more and again, she was struck with that sense of the rightness of this adventure.

More certain of herself now than she had been at even the entry into the land of air, she settled into a chair beside him and touched his arm. “Let me help you,” she said. “I know I'm only of so much good and baggage to carry about as well, but let me do anything small, anything you can give me to lighten your load.”