melodiesoflife | (no subject)

Characters: Lady Ashelia...and you!
Where: At a dive bar/pub in one of the rougher districts of Aqures Ixen.
When: Post-Night of the Thirteen Moogles, pre-trip to Aqures Ixen.
Summary: After recent events, the Lady Ashe decides to see what she can find out the old fashioned way: people watching at a table in a dingy bar with a bad reputation.

Ashelia sat at the bar, sipping slowly on a flagon of ale. She blended in with the crowd well, despite the fact that she was one of very few women in the establishment. Her hair was tucked under her red mage hat, shoulders bared in a red peasant blouse, a welcome change from her usual white ones. She wore tight-fitted leather pants, the knee-high boots with what looked like uncomfortably high stilettos completing her look. A red sword belt hung loosely around her waist; she had opted for an epee this evening. She was confident in her ability to out-finesse any of the drunken curs in the establishment should they not take kindly to her rebuffs.

She narrowed her eyes as she took another sip of her ale. Dreadful stuff. But she wasn't about to be picky just then. There was every possibility she could hear something, or talk to someone that could give her a lead in how the Empire had infiltrated the city - or continued to, as the case may be. With the spies' ability to teleport, Ashelia didn't think it could have been that hard.

But the seeds. They had been using Baltoro's Seeds for the ceremony that fateful night. A large quantity of them, from the looks of things. Yeul had told her it was all connected, and the queen had a feeling she was starting to see just how that might be.

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"Fair enough." Ashe raises her glass with Jack's and takes a rather dignified sip of her awful beer. "They do say seeing is believing, and here we are." Ashe gestures to the other patrons. "Though the...stories are another matter entirely. I have been here for more than three months. I've seen little more to support those particular theories than the belief in the prophecies by the inhabitants of Crystallis."

Oh ho? Jack's found someone still skeptical, even after having been brought to this world and seeing this place? Maybe he's talking to exactly the person he needs to be, then. "Okay. No questioning the 'world-jumping' thing. And things don't work the same way here. Magic? Doesn't exist in my world. But as you say, seeing is believing."

"At this point, it's all a question of what it is that we're actually seeing. And what we're not seeing. Why are we here, and why won't people be more straight-forward about this calamity we're supposed to prevent?"

"What have you seen? And what haven't you seen that you've needed to?" These seem like the important questions.

"The people of Aqures Ixen are not the most well-informed," Ashe states matter-of-factly. "I myself have spent weeks in the libraries, combing for information. Nothing tangible exists, just stories, legends."

The queen shakes her head slowly. "Although, one week ago...last month, there was a sickness. It swept through our ranks, killing some, debilitating all. Just before the end of the month, there was a ritual. Those who had died were brought back through some dark sorcery, their minds enslaved. They kept their purpose vague, but they insisted we had been tricked, that everything we'd been lead to believe until now was false. That the Calamity would lead Crystallis to salvation." Ashe sighed lightly. "It was a grueling battle. All that to say...there are those that believe strongly enough to make it true. Magic is a guileful beast, duplicitous by nature. There is no way to know for true at the moment."

Ashe looked squarely at Jack, jaw set in her way. "I intend to find out."