A new day; A new journey.

[Lance]

Lance chuckled, "Heh, dude, I don't think the relic is gonna care about how "Diluted" your blood is. Honestly, I'd be more concerned with if the user was a fucking psycho, have the relic scan for that. After all, the best leaders are the ones who don't want to fire a shot if they don't HAVE to."

Ciel nodded, hopping off of the bed and getting dressed, she didn't have much, and was about to pull on her "old dress" (the dress that Aria had transfigured when they first met.) until she noticed a box, wrapped in silver paper and tied with a red bow. She walked over and saw a small card on top of the box, it was marked with her name. "Huh? Did Aldari get me this? Why would he?" She picked up the card and opened it, revealing a small message.

<Ciel, You do not know me, but I have seen what you can do. Just know, that Aria is not the only one looking out for you child, I shall meet you both soon - A Friend> The message had a small stamp on it, next to the signature, the stamp was a silver and gold butterfly, the two colors divided down the middle of the butterfly's body.

Ciel opened the box, albeit hesitantly, but what she saw inside was a beautiful white sundress, with silver buttons and gold colored sashes and bands on it. "Wow!~ Momma, come inside and look, someone left me a present!"

Daemira saw Casey's reaction, sensed his anxiety, "Oh no! Casey, wait!" Daemira placed some gold of her own on the table before summoning her wings and flying after her boyfriend. She caught him in the lobby, landing in front of him with a worried expression. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you! Please forgive me Casey, I wasn't trying to go too far!" Daemira was panicking, her voice almost begging as she apologized.

[Tetsuya]

Casey stopped in his tracks when Daemira flew to catch up to him, bringing his hands up with his palms out to her, and carefully flapping them down at her. "Easy, easy, everything's alright. I, uh, just need to get out of the building to cool off, Daemira. The teasing just got to me," he said, trying to calm her down now.

Luna groaned hearing there wasn't much of a clue yet on surpassing whatever test laid for Arin at the end of this journey. "That's true Lance, but Arin will need more than that as well. Even if the relic does accept him, there's not going to be much of a kingdom without anyone who's willing to follow. In my opinion, a king is for his people just as the people support their king. King Aldari is a perfect example of such," Luna said.

[Arin]

Aria walked into the room and noticed the box that Ciel pulled out of the corner, picking up the card and reading it out of curiosity "...Akatosh...That man, I swear..." She smiled and knelt down, rubbing Ciel's arm softly "Do you want to try it on?"

Arin nodded in agreement to Luna's comments about kingdoms and it's people "Which is why I want to try and keep things under wraps, until I'm certain there's enough people to even TRY and rebuild. IF not, then I've proven my mother's research true, and I can move on. I'll be just as happy ruling over a happy family if I can't rule over a kingdom, this isn't be all-end all for me."

[Lance]

Lance nodded, "I hear ya, I'm more interested in all this magitech that my mother mentioned. Soldiers made of polished steel and powered by mana, armor that makes you into a great knight as well as a sage...it's all so incredible, I wanna see it for myself."

Ciel smiled and nodded, "Yes please, we need to thank Mr Akatosh for this when we see him!"

Daemira frowned, "Casey...I can help you cool off...just, put your hand on my shoulder, and just...vent your fantasies to me. Let me feel your desire so I may lessen this burden that I've caused." What Daemira didn't tell Casey was that taking on another's desires would make her pent up instead of him, but she knew that she would be able to handle it far better than he would.

[Tetsuya]

Casey squinted at Daemira, jumping ahead in conclusions about what could possibly happen if he did as she asked. "I'm sure there's a side effect if I did that. I'd rather not put any unneeded stress on you, Daemira, though I guess my own anxiety isn't really helping that. Listen, I'll be just fine. I'm just not sure how well this armor hides anything too obvious is all," he said. He needn't be worried though as nothing was completely obvious, if only narrowly.

"I see then, well that's just fine too. To be honest, I would have liked to see what the kingdoms looked like back in their prime. They must have looked like shining beacons at one point," Luna said. She poked Arin in the said when he mentioned being satisfied with ruling a family than a kingdom, giving him a small smirk. "This will be the first time I'll have seen one of the fallen kingdoms ruins. I wonder what sort of wonders are there?"

[Arin]

Aria smiled and straightened Ciel's hair, walking over to a chair and taking a seat "Very well, get changed, and I'll store away your clothes in case something happens to your dress. And I'm certain we'll meet Akatosh again before our departure, I doubt one as important as he would miss seeing off new friends and allies as they leave for their own journeys."

Arin rubbed his head when Luna poked him, smirking softly and thinking about the possibilities of what wonders awaited them "I don't know, to be honest, I'm a bit curious and worried myself. Well, we won't know until we set sail. But we can't do that until Aldari has set up a shuttle for us, and after Cypher's finished his preparations as well."

[Lance]

Daemira smiled, she did notice a little something, though given it was still thick leather, that was an accomplishment. "Heh, I think I'm going to be enjoying your company my dear.~ Come on, let's fine Kaen."

Ciel eagerly pulled her sleeping clothes off, grabbing her new dress and putting it on, fumbling with the buttons a little bit before managing to get it on completely. She looked at Aria, doing a little twirl for her mother. "How do I look momma!?"

Lance simply listened to the two as they discussed plans, not having much to add to the conversation at this point.

[Tetsuya]

"Sure, we'll at least be able to pick him out in a crowd. Kinda hard to hide his unique features, you know? It should be easy to find him somewhere in this city," Casey said.

So what are the plans for our travel anyway? By shuttle, I assume you mean we're going to be traveling by boat for a while," Luna asked. She then looked at Lance and asked him, "Is there anything you want to get in town before we leave?"

[Arin]

Aria smiled as Ciel twirled in place, showing off her sun dress. Hands folded in her lap, she couldn't help but let out a motherly squeal at the sight of her daughter acting so cute "Oooh! Ciel you look so adorable sweetie! If I see Akatosh, might just kiss him on the sheek for such a wonderful gift for my little girl!~"

Arin sighed and nodded when Luna assumed they were traveling by boat, rubbing his neck nervously "...Well, it isn't going to be ust us traveling to the kingdom...Cypher's collected data on the kingdom, enough that he's found that the twilight kingdom becomes different after nightfall...He thinks it safest if we were to travel with a select group of guild members well equipped for the journey...And he's going to be commissioning a small group to come along with us..."

[Lance]

Lance shook his head. "I can't think of anything at the moment."

Daemira and Casey wouldn't have to look far, as they left the Guildhall to find Kaen, they ended up running right into him, almost literally. "Woah! Easy there, are you two alright?"

Ciel nodded, running over to Aria. "Thanks momma, and I love it! Let's go down and eat before we say goodbye to Mr. Akatosh!"

[Tetsuya]

Casey managed to stop before he managed to run right into Kaen. Blinking for a sec, he wondered how he didn't notice him just a moment ago. "Whoa, could have sworn you weren't there a second ago. We're fine though, we were just about to go looking for you," he said.

Luna sighed hearing that they were going to have more company than ever accompanying them to the ruins. "Well at least Lance doesn't have to worry about us getting all mushy at night. I am not going to enjoy this leg of the trip," Luna simply said. She didn't look mad, but there was some anxiety behind her poker face.

[Arin]

Aria smiled and walked beside Ciel as she locked the door behind them, and made their way downstairs, to the lobby. If things were going to be this easy to raise Ciel, this might be a cake walk compared to Arin and his habit of losing control...Then again, anything could happen with magic.

Arin sighed when Luna mentioned that she wasn't going to enjoy this trip, placing a hand on her shoulder and smiling reassuringly "Hey, Come on now. I made sure to be completely upfront with Cypher that you wanted your space, he's going to make sure they have their own caravan to travel in, so they aren't crowding us. They'll only be keeping pace with us a distance away, and helping us if we need the extra hand."

[Lance]

Lance nodded, "And if anyone gets nosy, I'll...persuade them to bug off. We may have our differences, but it's clear to me that crowds make you nervous, and I ain't gonna let you be bothered by that."

Kaen chuckled, "I rounded a corner just as you came out, It's a good thing that we've both got good reflexes, eh? Anyways, what did you want to talk to me about?"

[Tetsuya]

Casey nodded, and said, "Yeah, Daemira and I were just about to head out to buy provisions for the trip, and possibly rent or buy a couple of horses to shorten the trip as much as possible. Considering the crystals King Aldari handed me yesterday were so valuable, I think it's safe to say it's in our budget. I was also wondering if you were coming with us."

Hearing them helping to calm her slight anxiety did help Luna. "Thanks you two. While I would rather it be just the three of us, the king and his advisor wouldn't suggest having well trained people coming along for no reason. I'll suck it up for now, and try not to let it get to me," she said.

[Arin]

Aria and Ciel both entered the lobby ad noticed the place was far more populated since the last time she was in there. She then spotted Arin, Lance, and Luna, and pointed over at them, leading Ciel over to the trio "Go on and say hello to your brother, sweetheart. But try not to run into anyone, I'll be right behind you."

Arin pulled Luna into a gentle hug, kissing her cheek softly and rubbing her back over her cloaked form "Thanks for understanding, Luna." He let her go, not wanting to be too affectionate, for hers and Lance's sakes "I promise if they say or do anything that we don't approve of, I'll help lance set them straight."