The Shopkeeper's Daughter: Act 1

[desertbloomed]

Characters: Ashelia, and other Heroes that answered her call
Where: Her house, B-05
When: 09/10
Summary: Ashelia has an interesting proposal: that the Heroes of Light start acting like them.
Format: Prose or action is fine
Warnings: none!

Everything was set up perfectly. The table was laid out with a bowl of (non-spiked) punch and some sugar biscuits. Chairs were arranged into a circle. Ashelia paced around the living room anxiously. We haven't the time for this. That little girl was dying, and here she was, holding a meeting to propose a plan of action on what to do about it. That's what Queen Ashelia would do - that's all a queen could do. But I am no queen here. She should be out there, finding the seeds herself. The battle with the Chocobo Eater continued to gnaw at her, though. She'd gotten out of it relatively unscathed, but only because there were people more able to take the hits. She needed the other Heroes for this. As much time as she felt she was wasting with this meeting, she couldn't be in two places at once.

Comments

[umslay]

During the past week, Ales had been exploring as much of Aqures Ixen each day, memorizing the districts and the locations of various landmarks, including the research facilities and business centers. But without anything else for him to do besides take walks and read up on basic information of Crytallis, he grew bored.

The invitation provided something for him to do, and it would be the best chance to meet with the other Heroes and make connections, if he ever wanted to go back to starting his own business again.

He easily found house B-05, as he was walking through the residential districts the day before, and opened the door. He walked towards where the others were gathering and greeted them with a smile.

"It's a pleasure to be here and finally meet all of you!" he said as he hoisted himself onto the table. "I don't think I might have caught your name, you are...?"

[desertbloomed]

Ashelia's eye twitched just once as Ales hoisted himself onto the table. It wasn't proper, it wasn't right - alas, she was no longer in her castle and, while this was her house, having spent some time around moogles and nu mou back in Ivalice, seeing some of the smaller peoples climb onto tables or other surfaces when addressing larger colleagues wasn't a new sight. Still, it was her table.

"I am the Lady Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca. Do try not to knock over the punch."

[umslay]

It was difficult reaching for the snacks when Ales wasn't as tall as the table, and like all Teensies, he depended on jumping onto higher surfaces to gain equal footing to other races. Still, he took utmost care in not disturbing the bowls and tablecloth.

"Ah, so you're the lady Dalmasca that invited us over! I'm Ales, one of the new arrivals here, and I'll be sure not to knock anything over." He gave a little bow. After all, her title informed him that she was of noble birth.

[desertbloomed]

"I am of House Dalmasca, but..." She almost immediately thought better. "The nomenclature of the noble houses of Valendia is a somewhat esoteric topic. Lady Ashelia will do." The queen nodded at Ales courteously. "I do hope you've been able to weather the transition."

[umslay]

"Ah, my apologies. Lady Ashelia it is then!" He wasn't one to research into the history and culture of a land he would never visit, so he accepted this correction without questioning.

He stood up straight. "I've been spending the past few days exploring the city on my own, but the actual arrival wasn't fun at all," Ales recollected. "Mostly because I thought that I'd died and was stuck with strangers in a strange place. But at least some of those mysteries have been cleared up."

His tone was rather indifferent to the last sentence. He had so many more questions about Crystallis and his role here, but based on his experiences so far, no one was going to answer them for him.

[desertbloomed]

"I wish I could solve some of those mysteries for you, Ales. Alas, I can only assure you that, while you are still in a strange place, you are no longer among strangers."

Ashelia clasped her hands behind her back, tilting her head to the side as she spoke. "I had intended on helping the moogles at the Fire Crystal, but the matters necessitating your presence here have taken much of my attention for the past several days."