The Road East
Each person passed the night in their own way, but all got some very well deserved rest. They would need it as once again they rose early the next morning, preparing themselves to leave before most of the other guests throughout the inn had even stirred from their beds. Once more they gathered outside to get ready to leave, the morning cold and slightly damp with dew.
As the Prince's party rose, so too did the innkeepers. Chiyo was the first one to be up, wearing a green turtleneck sweater and a red pencil skirt as she went about the main floor of the inn. She was preparing the bar for the day, along with the general dining room. Around she went, organizing things for the day and enjoying the little bit of silence before the day started. When she finished and the large party accompanying the royal siblings headed outside, she followed, watching quietly by the door.
On the Prince's orders the party was to keep everything as quiet as they possibly could in order to not wake the other guests, and they were quite successful all things considered. At the front of them all the Prince not only prepared himself but looked back to check the progress of everyone else. On one of these looks he saw Chiyo, and after checking one last bag he left his horse where it stood, making his way over to her.
"Hopefully we'll be back this way soon enough. Thank you for accommodating us for the night."Chiyo had been watching the party work quietly. She always liked to, since it could easily be a chaotic scene but wasn't. The innkeeper was caught slightly off guard as Cyril made his way over to her, but she managed to smile.
"Of course. It's what I do."
"Is there anything else I can do for you before we go?"
"Stay safe so you can come back."He chuckled slightly, nodding.
"I always do my best to do that, you know that." With that one hand went forwards, gently taking hers before he leaned forwards, placing a soft kiss on her lips before he began to pull away.
"Thank you again, Chiyo. Tell your sister I said goodbye." With that he let her hand go, making his way back to his own horse.
She smiled a little as he kissed her, returning the kiss just as softly as it was placed on her lips. Gently, she squeezed his hand before he let go.
"I will. Come back soon."When the Prince pulled himself onto his horse he gave the order to move, and once more he and Richard led the group as they made their way to the east. The sun rose, quickly drying the wet that had settled in thanks to the cold night are as things very quickly warmed up.
The mountains came into view soon after leaving the Hanasaki inn behind, and by midday they had entered the foothills. Up and down they went, knowing that soon enough they would soon be continuously heading upwards, but that was still some time away. However, after they began to crest one of the larger hills, a strange sight awaited them...
A single figure stood on the highest point of the hill, back to them. She was truly a beautiful woman with long, wavy blonde hair, dressed in a form fitting purple dress that shimmered in a mesmerizing way unlike any cloth they had ever seen before. Everything about her, from the shape of her form to the smoothness of her skin was utterly perfect, so perfect it was almost eerie. She carried a parasol over her shoulder, one she spun in between her fingers slowly, and as she stood there she stepped back and forth in a twostep to music only she could apparently hear.
To say Cyril was confused was an understatement... And that became even more the case when the woman suddenly turned to face them. Her face was just as beautiful as the rest of her, and was even more so as a smile lit up her features. Her eyes were a bright, vibrant purple, her lips a deep red as that smile grew... And then, quite suddenly, down she dropped. She went straight down, through a strange phenomenon that could only be described as a smooth tear through reality itself, one that closed immediately afterwards-
"Oh, shit!" Christopher swore loudly, bringing his arms up to block his throat as the curse rang out. He did so just in time as another tear suddenly appeared right next to him, the upper half of the woman suddenly popping out of it at a high speed, the look on her face utterly excited. She threw her white gloved arms and hands around his neck, squeezing him tightly to her neck and bosom with what was apparently an extreme amount of force; despite blocking his throat, Christopher was still having trouble breathing.
"There's my baby boy! How have you been, my dear? Have you been sleeping well? Eating your vegetables? Is Damon making sure you take baths?" Her voice was perfectly sweet.
"C-c-can't breathe-!"
"What-?!" Cyril had turned in his confusion, jaw dropping. He honestly had no idea what he was looking at, and didn't until the Paladin explained... And after the Paladin said the following words the Prince's eyes widened even more in shock as a similar sort of awestruck surprise passed through the group:
"Ye are in the presence of the Dark Divine Ambrosia, Lady of the Abyss."For a few moments Christopher remained in an apparently killer embrace as the Divine cooed over him, before she suddenly released him and allowed him to slump into his own saddle. She seemed to rest her arms on the edge of the tear like one might do a counter top, and as it moved through the air she moved with it, drifting along her way through the group. Straight to the Paladin she went, beaming at him quite happily as she said,
"Hello, Damon! How has he been? Not giving you too much trouble, I hope!"The Paladin nodded, bowing in his saddle as he did so, keeping his head tilted down afterwards.
"Nothing I can't handle, milady. As stubborn as he is, he's still learning bit by bit.'
"Oh, good, that's wonderful to hear! I knew you might be able to teach him a thing or two!" On she drifted then, going through to the front of the group. Up next to Richard her tear drifted, her smiling at the old (at least in human terms) man as well.
"And hello to you too, Richard! My, it's been awhile, I haven't visited Karin in so long. How is the dear?"
"Well enough, Lady Ambrosia. Working hard, as always."
"Oh, of course she is. Maybe one day she'll listen to me and relax a little, but that's never been quite her style, now has it...?" Her sentence drifted off, before she quite suddenly turned to Cyril, swooping in quite close to him and nearly sending him off of his horse in surprise.
"And you must be Prince Cyril! Oh, it's so good to meet you as well!" Before he could react she was hugging him, though not with the same tight embrace she had given Christopher, and still before he could say anything she had already let him go, drifting over to Ayano.
"Oh, and you're little Ayano! Oh, you're so cute I could just kidnap you!" Another hug was given...
And when Ambrosia released her Ayano nearly fell off her horse, barely keeping on thanks to the reins and the efforts of Diane.
"So much purple........"Around Ambrosia looked, smiling. At the sight of Joachim she suddenly sat straight up in surprise, before swooping over to him as well.
"Well, if it isn't Mr. Raizen! Hello, Joachim! How have you been, my dear? Is everything well? It seems you've finally found a nice place to settle."
"Well... for the time being..."
"Oh, there are just so many of you! Please, each of you forgive me as I make my way through you all." She listed ever slightly to the side, to the one who moved next to Joachim.
"And you must be Chikako! Thank you so much for being such a good friend to my dear Joachim, I'm glad he hasn't been completely alone these last few years." Before the Gifted could respond the Divine was moving on, swooping back and forth in between the horses of the group back towards Christopher, but stopping just before she got to him, looking to Etsuko first.
"Oh, are you a friend of my baby boy's?" She asked this excitedly, and as she drifted closer one hand went forwards, gently patting the Diviner on her head.
"I'm so glad to hear that, Etsuko!" Her hand then went over as she rose up with the tear, to get on Calypso's level, and she gave the silver-haired young woman a few pats as well.
"Oh, aren't you just beautiful, Calypso! It's such a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, and well worth the wait! Learn as much as you can about the world, dear girl, there's so much for you to experience now!"
"~~~~~~~"From there she spun around, going to one of the ones at the edge of the group.
"Oh, and aren't you just looking as grand as ever, Direwolf Argentum! Keeping yourself as sharp as you can possibly be, I'm so proud!" Even as the Direwolf gave a slight nod the Divine was drifting away, towards another protector of the Serios as she smiled.
"Hello, Vesta! It's good to see you finally back with the Serios. They've missed you, and I'm so very glad you have a home again."Quite suddenly she switched gears entirely, and drifted along through the middle of the group, looking back and forth to those she spoke to.
"Oh, you just have to be Alice! You are positively enchanting with those beautiful eyes of yours! And aren't you Ms. Stark? Oh, you're so cute too! I'm so proud of you working so hard on your studies, you're doing an absolutely terrific job! Oh, and you must be Thuraya! What a beautiful tail you have, my dear! You must be so strong, Seryosa must be so proud!"On she went, continuing to beam with every word she spoke.
"Oh, Captain Dalious, there you are! Your life has certainly taken a strange turn, hasn't it! I dare say you'll end up liking it, though! Oh, get a shave when you can, you're so scruffy right now! Oh my, and you must be Marco Maxwell! Keep up with your studies, dear boy, and be careful with what tricks you try to learn! I know you can do it, but don't hurt yourself! And you, you must be Drosil, aren't you! Oh, this is the closest I'll ever get to meeting a nephew, I'm sorry it took me so long to find you! Do tell your adorable brother I said hello, and that I can't wait to meet him either! And don't think I forgot about you, Sir Maulsalot! Oh, I'd say you're the cutest of them all, awuwuwuwuwuwuwu!"With that the Divine did a full spin around as she remained rested in her tear, before beginning to drift back towards the front.
"Oh, there's just so many of you! I'm so sorry I can't say hello to you all, but it's already taking so long! I'm so happy to meet you all, though, and getting to know you!"Even as the Divine drifted past the Prince, he still couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing, and the look on his face made it clear. He had always believed the Divines had existed, but meeting one so suddenly, out in the middle of nowhere… It had been the last thing he had expected.
Izurich