[Chapter 02 - SCENE] A Discussion Under the Moonlight

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Who: Raine Sage, Judith Sykes
Where: Keterburg Port
When: Rem Decan 30, Rem Day, ND 2018, after Raine and Genis get home.
Warnings: None so far.


An hour had passed since Judith left both Raine and Genis at their home, but Raine found herself unable to sleep. Genis was already snoring the night away in his room, but even though it was dark, it was only about ten at night. Raine typically spent this time to grade papers, but considering that she was off this school year there wasn't much to do... old habits die hard, as they say.

It would be a good time for a walk.

The port was quiet at night, since a lot of shipments didn't arrive until early in the morning. A single lighthouse still kept the bay lit, though Luna, the moon, was shining brightly as ever reflecting Rem's, the sun's, light. Raine wasn't a romantic, but standing on a bridge in the middle of the night was always a calm and serene experience. Yes... a lesson Atwight attempted to teach her, after all. Raine was so busy her entire life studying, she never had the opportunity to just stand still and enjoy the serenity around her.

But the pain was still there. Where she came from, serenity didn't exist... not when the Collapse of Hod happened.

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Judith sighed. She had spent the last 16 years searching for answers. A clue, a sign…and she had found out nothing. Nothing she didn’t already know, anyways. After Hod had collapsed, her life shattered. She had no one. She had nothing. She just had to know. Was she the only survivor? She didn’t know. Was she the only one who wanted revenge? Justice? She wouldn’t know. Why was Hod destroyed? She just had to know.

Judith was feeling restless, too anxious about her possible lead. She stood up and put her jacket on. A nice walk would do her some good. Maybe the calming winter scenery would distract her from her thoughts. She wanted to know all of these things, but she didn’t want to dwell on the past. Not now, at least. It was just too painful to think about.

Walking through the snow, Judith couldn’t help but think about how beautiful Keterburg truly was. Beautiful, just like Hod had been. One more sigh. Clearly, this walk wasn’t helping to distract her.

“Maybe if I go visit the port. I haven’t had the chance to look around there very much yet.”

Upon entering the port, Judith noticed how small it was. A nice, calming port community. She understood why Raine and Genis must have liked living here. The port contained all of the beauty the city had, but not the crowd. Judith took a seat on the nearest bench and took a deep chilling breath. This wasn't helping either, as she was just left there with nothing but her thoughts. Sadly, She looked to the white snow on the ground. As it glistened in the moonlight, Judith prayed.

A distraction would be great right about now.

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Raine glanced the area, and noticed Judith's entrance. How odd... I thought she would be at the hotel right now. Shaking her head, Raine decided to take a shot and approach her. After all, this sort of setting was best shared among people, and Judith didn't seem the dangerous type.

Making her way to the bench, she was certain that Judith had already noticed her presence. "Couldn't sleep either, Miss Judith?" Raine tried to give a soft smile, but it was cold. "Keterburg Port is always serene at this time of night, and the full moon really makes everything shimmer, doesn't it?"

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For once, Judith’s prayers were answered. They were even answered in the form of a person she actually wanted to speak with. How convenient.

“Raine,” she nodded her head and scooted over from where she was sitting to make room, “Please, have a seat.”

Judith allowed a small smile. She didn’t want to look upset now, did she?

“It really is beautiful here.”

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Raine took Judith's offer, and quite gladly. The bench was cold, but her coat still kept her warm. Raine could somewhat tell that Judith was slightly older than her somehow, though probably ony by a few years. One should show respect to their elders, right?

"My apologies about before." Raine managed to say. "I didn't wish to get Genis' hopes up just to have him become disappointed; it's happened before, see, and as his older sister I'd like to do what I can to protect him from such a crushing feeling. It's not that I don't find you trustworthy, but... you're a mercenary for a reason, correct? It would be terrible of us to take up your offer to come along with us; you need to take on jobs to earn money."

In the back of her mind, Raine didn't know whether or not she believed what she was telling Judith. If she didn't, she did her best not to show that to Judith. However, Raine knew that part of becoming an adult was experiencing disappointment, and shielding her little brother from that entirely also wasn't the best for him... "In any case, we don't even really have a lead of where to go search, though we were told that Schwann was last seen in Malkuth territory, probably the continent of Rugnica. Even then, it's been fifteen years since we received news of his passing; he could very well be somewhere else by now, if he were alive."

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Judith hmmed. “That’s a bit of a contradiction really,” she picked her gaze up from the floor too stare at the moon. “You’re allowing Genis to go on a trip that could very well lead to disappointment. You seem to believe this man is dead, and yet you’re allowing him to find that out for himself.”

Judith hoped that didn’t come out rudely. She had the tendency to come off like that sometimes, even though it was unintentional. Judith allowed her gaze to shift back to the snow. “You have no reason to apologize though. I understand your concern,” her smile disappeared, “My older sister was the same way.”

Her older sister. Her family. Judith crossed her arms over her chest, and leaned back into her seat. This distraction wasn’t helping either. She had to change the subject.

“I am a mercenary for many reasons. Money isn’t something I stress over, though. It merely comes hand in hand with the job really.” Judith straightened her posture and shifted to look at Raine. “I want to go with you both. I....” she paused. Judith really hoped that she wouldn’t have to fully explain her situation to Raine. Not yet, at least. Hopefully it could be avoided. “I have my reasons for wanting to go. Please, don’t feel bad about not being able to pay me. I’ll just take up jobs on the way.”

Hopefully, Raine would just leave it at that and not ask of her reasons. Judith could tell that Raine was a smart person. Smart people knew when to draw the line, right? If Judith had to reveal her reasons though, she would be prepared to. She had to go on this trip with them. She'd do anything.

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Raine had to giggle a bit at what Judith said at first. "Yes, you're right; my actions are contradictory, aren't they?" She let her gaze fall to the ground. "In any case, if you insist to come along, I suppose it's not my place to say you shouldn't." Raine resigned herself; Judith was smart, and unlike the average mercenary, Judith certainly did seem to know what she was doing, and not all of it was bad.

"You have your own reasons... it must be because of the Hod War, hmm?" Raine noticed how Judith perked up at the mention of Hod. "I won't ask what happened, but as I said... we don't have much of a lead to go on. We could be traveling for quite a while, and not end up with anything. Would you be able to live with that, Miss Judith?"

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Yes, Raine definitely was smart. Judith smiled. She had been travelling for the past 4 years, and had ended up with nothing. Could she live with that? No, but she had gotten used to it. Judith giggled. She had gotten used to it… how sad.

Judith shook her head. “Raine, I travel and end up with nothing, it’s my job. I’d just be doing my job with some added company.” Judith stuck her hand out, a formal handshake to seal the deal. “Thank you for allowing me to join you.”

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Perhaps... traveling a bit would let Raine have someone prove her so desperately wrong. That she could finally trust someone... anybody again. And there was also a chance that she'd be disappointed as well.

Raine thought that perhaps you could only become an adult by the amount of tears you've shed. But she definitely wanted to be proved wrong.

She took Judith's outstretched hand, and smiled. "It will be a pleasure working with you."