Melody of the Abyss

Judith had just emerged from her room in the hotel when she noticed Raine sitting on the couch. She had removed her winter clothing, revealing her…revealing but usual armored clothing. She was curious as to how Raine and Genis would react. After all, they hadn’t seen her without her long overcoat on yet. She walked to the hotel operator and thanked him. She was grateful that he had allowed her to use her old room, free of charge.

Saying her goodbyes, she walked towards the couch and took a seat next to Raine. She made herself more comfortable by crossing her legs and leaning further into the cushion. She glanced over at Raine and giggled. “It’s so much warmer here in Grand Chokmah, why are you still wearing such heavy clothing?”

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Raine had to blush at the sight of Judith in her... warm weather wear. She simply closed her eyes and responded. "I... don't feel very comfortable wearing anything less than this, and I don't own any clothes which reveal much more. Plus, I think I sunburn rather easily." She explained, nodding. Judith was a woman; there was no need to feel embarrassed at her display.

Raine ordered a drink for her traveling companion, but simply a glass of water for herself. "Genis went on ahead to catch the sights of Grand Chokmah, but I told him to be back in time for dinner. I'm surprised that the hotel staff knew you; you must have built up a rather good repertoire with the places you've traveled." Raine commented, smiling.

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Another day, another slave driven effort that led him traveling all about the capital of Grand Chokmah. Those are simply the things that happen when you try and live somewhere for free; you have to make up for it in the worst ways possible. Such as, for instance, having to walk a good way across the city to deliver a way too heavy package. Today, said package just so happened to be destined for a hotel that he somehow always had a hell of a problem in finding.

Which means he was always late.

Through the fancy schmancy doors he walked, neatly wrapped package resting firmly in his arms (while his sword still dangled from his left by way of thick strings, somehow). He didn't pay a bit of mind to the rest of the people in the room. His destination was one place, and one place only. The front desk. And, boy, did it feel nice to drop the damn heavy thing down onto it, even if it led to the hotel's operator having one extra thing to lecture him for. Whatever, that was --

Punishment? A punishment? You gotta be kidding me. What kind of punishment is being forced to bring drinks to a table? Again, whatever, he would deal. Drop these off, then run out the door to freedom. An afternoon of nothing.

...Of course, once he turned around and his mind registered a blue haired, just a little well endowed girl sitting on the couch he was destined for, his entire frame of mind shifted juuust a bit. He wasted no time in getting himself from point A to point B, something between a smile and a smirk on his face.

"Uh, I think these are yours..." Anything else he could have said was quickly derailed as he noticed the oddly heavy clothing one of the women had on. Cue his eyebrows having raised up on his forehead -- half from amusement, half from sheer curiosity. "Aren't you hot?"

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Judith leaned forward to get their drinks. He didn’t look like he worked at the hotel, and he was nice enough to bring them their drinks. She rewarded him by leaning a little farther than what was necessary. Upon receiving the drinks she handed Raine her’s, and sat back down in her seat. This man certainly was charming. He deserved at least a little introduction.

She took a quick sip of her drink, and smiled at Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome. “My name is Judith, and this is Raine. Thank you for bringing us our drinks,” she replied, her tone of voice changing into something a little more playful. Judith always was a little forward with her introductions, especially with men. She hardly registered it though, it just came naturally.

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Raine was amazed at how shameless Judith was acting, but... Raine also knew that behavior wasn't always completely indicative of how a person was on the inside. Judith certainly was an interesting character indeed, and if she used her wiles to get what she wanted... well, more power to her, Raine supposed.

... if only Raine could do that, too. But she didn't really like her body all that much, anyway.

"Thank you very much." Raine smiled, giving Yuri a 10 gald tip. It was common courtesy, after all.

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Judith's introduction managed to cause quite the smile to spread across Yuri's face as his preoccupation with Raine's overly modest choice in clothing flooded right away. Hey, he could honestly say that meeting and talking to a girl like her is a one in a million chance. He wasn't even sure if he had ever met someone... Even close to her. Way to make his mind go straight to horrible areas, Judith!

I mean, no, of course not, he was a perfect gentleman, and was still trying to act like one. Or, well, he was, until the sudden tip sends him right back to something like confusion. "You... Don't really have to give me this." He was kind of acting like the Gald was burning him. Yep, it's being flicked right back into Raine's lap.

Okay, now for another smile. "Name's Yuri, by the way. What brings you two to a place like this?"

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So his name was Yuri? Judith’s brows squinted slightly in thought. It may have been just some hear-say, but that name sounded familiar to her. Though, she had lived in Grand Chokmah for a good 12 years and not once ever met this man. Oh well, it probably wasn't important.

Even though that was a question better answered by Raine, Judith returned the smile and answered truthfully. “I’m a travelling mercenary. I’m just helping out this nice woman and her little brother.”

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...

Raine was visibly pissed, with a vein throbbing on her forehead. Not only did this man throw back her tip at her, she was now being ignored by both her traveling companion as well as the newcomer in light of their little flirting game. She was a bit offended, but decided to keep her mouth shut for now. But the next two strikes would not be quite as forgiving.

Pocketing the 10 gald which was so rudely thrown back at her, Raine forced a strained smile. "Yes, we are traveling for a bit." Though it's none of your business.

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That Judith girl seemed to grow more and more interesting by the moment. He found himself hardly keep his eyes off of her. And before any protests are raised, his gaze was firmly on her face, thank you very much. "A mercenary, really? I wouldn't expect someone like you," insert whatever that may mean here, "to be traveling around under that sort of job."

One glance at the other woman, however, clearly gave him the clue that something was wrong here. Oh, right. Women cared a little more about the... Being paid attention to thing, was it? Or maybe, well... "Hey, if you really want to give me that money, I'll take it. All I did was walk a few feet to you." His shoulders gave a heavy shrug.

"I'd ask where you're traveling from, but I'm a little afraid you might bite."

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Raine looked upset. Had they been ignoring her? Judith didn’t realize. Raine didn’t look too pleased; she figured answering the question for her was the best thing to do.

“We’re travelling from Keterburg.”

Judith quickly downed the rest of her drink and set the glass down on the table. She turned to Raine, “Would you like to go and catch up to Genis? I’d like to show you both around the city.” Hopefully that would cheer her up. She turned to Yuri next, “Would you like to come with us?” ….Was that a good idea? Oh well.

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Raine sighed, and mentally slapped herself back to her senses. Thre was no real reason for her to act so upset, and therefore she took a deep breath in order to comport herself in a manner suitable for a teacher. "Certainly; I'm a bit worried about Genis, so looking for him may be a good idea." She simply smiled, her calm regained.

As for Yuri? Raine didn't like him one bit, yes, but that was because initially Raine was suspicious of everybody. She decided to drop her frustrations for now, and let the two have their flirting game; whipping out a book, Raine began to flip through it as she stood up and walk towards the door. "You're free to follow if you feel like it." She said, her voice rather icy though her face smiling. She was sure Judith would like the company.

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There was no need to look for the munchkin, because just as Raine stepped up to the door, Genis was running through. He plowed into his older sister, falling back on his butt with an 'oomph!' sound.

This was quickly shaken off, however, as he looked up and grinned at his big sister.

... And immediately began talking excitedly.

"Sis, Sis, the city is so cool! There are lots of waterfalls, and fountains, and I saw the imperial palace, where Emperor Peony lives! It was guarded, big-time guarded, but It was so COOL!"

Needless to say, the young boy was quite happy to finally see somewhere other than Keterburg.

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Raine was used to Genis' rather excited way of talking, and although she was in a somewhat vexed state of mind, she still smiled and was able to catch all of that which came out of his mouth. "Yes, Grand Chokmah is certainly regal, isn't it, Genis? How about you show me around, and what you've discovered so far?" She turned to Judith and Yuri, giving Judith a sort of glance which was meant to convey that if Judith wished to continue her flirting game, she had the opportunity to do so now... without Raine's 'interruption'.

Being out of her element, Raine was aching for some time to herself.

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Well, given that he didn't have anything else to do for the day, Yuri had honestly been contemplating just going along with the two women. Eh, it'd be a good waste of time, and he wouldn't have to part so quickly with the blue-haired beauty... There wasn't much reason for why he could have possible turned them down, other than being incredibly, er, lazy.

He had been readying himself to say something or other to Judith when it seemed that what the two of them were off in search of burst in himself. Yuri could only watch the two -- Raine and Genis -- from afar, putting two and two together in his mind. Ah, must be related. Poor kid, having to be related to... Wait a second, let's not be too hasty! He had been pretty rude to poor Raine. Given the look the woman gave Judith... Yeah.

"Hey, now, I wouldn't want you two getting lost. This city can turn into a maze before you know it. Why don't you let me come along?" Let's go back to being a 'gentleman.'

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Judith smiled, completely oblivious to Raines icy glare. She nodded in Yuri’s direction, and slowly made her way to the Sage Siblings. She gave Raine a reassuring pat on the shoulder, smile still on her face. She looked down at Genis, and gave him a quick pat on the head.

“I’m glad you had fun Genis, would you mind showing us around the city?” She had seen it all before, but she didn’t mind seeing it all again. It had been a while since she was back in Grand Chokmah anyways.

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Genis looked to Judith and smiled, standing himself up and dusting himself off a little bit ... despite the fact that there didn't seem to be much to dust off.

"Judith, you know as well as I do that I just got here, so I can't know all that much about the city," Genis said with a laugh, a slight flush on his cheeks. He knew a pretty substantial amount, having studied it in geography, but he didn't think he'd be very good at teaching it to his sister, who know about as much as he did himself.

"But maybe if I had some help to fill in details I don't know, Sis and I could learn everything about the cit--"

And this is when he spotted Yuri. He blinked. Oh look, another male.

"Uh .. Hi," was his awkward greeting.

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Oh, this was going to be odd. Genis never really had to deal with another male in competition... and Judith certainly had both of them wrapped around her finger. Raine told herself not to be jealous or irritated, but such base human desires taking the better of both of the men present really did irritate her on several levels. "I suppose we can sightsee together." Raine put on her best smile. When they left Grand Chokmah, there would be no Yuri, and all would be well. Hopefully.

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Well, that was just a little odd. Yuri couldn't say that he had ever had anyone react to him in such an awkward manner. Honestly, it caused his eyebrows to once again set out on a mission toward his hair line, his effort to walk over to the two momentarily halted. What, had this kid never seen a full grown male before? Or, maybe... Nah. Couldn't be something like that.

"Hey, kid," he said, an awkward dose of his own spilled over into his tone as he finally bridged the gap toward the little group. "You must be this Genis they keep mentioning. Name's Yuri." How long had it been since he'd been this talkative? Blame it on a lovely lady standing mere feet from him. They can do the craziest things to your mind.

"Sorry if it seems like I'm crashing this little party."

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No, Yuri was definitely not crashing it…. Well he wasn’t crashing it for Judith. She found him charming, funny and quite handsome. If anything, he was starting the party back up.

She walked towards the door and opened it for them. As soon as Raine and Genis walked past her, she turned her head and gave Yuri a quick smile to show her appreciation. “You’re not ruining anything, Yuri,” and with that she followed the Sage Siblings out the door, keeping it open for Yuri to follow.

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Genis wasn't sure what it was about Yuri, but he somehow had his big sister on edge. Or was it Judith? Nah, couldn't be Judith, Raine seemed to be totally fine with her up until now. Even so, Yuri certainly seemed friendly enough, so he went with the flow. He put on a smile, walked over to Yuri, and held out a hand. Time for a manly handshake!

"Yeah, I'm Genis! It's nice to meet you, Yuri."

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((OoC: Skip Raine; she'll go after Yuri and Judith.))

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Someone seemed a little enthusiastic. Good thing, really, 'cause if this kid had turned out to be anything like his sister? Man, there's no telling if he would have actually wanted to stick this out, even with the ever beautiful presence of Judith. This wouldn't be so bad if he could stomach the total jealousy of the other woman.

With something like a smirk to match the smile on Genis face, he extended his own hand and shook that of the much shorter male. "Nice to meet you, too. I hope you won't mind me tagging along." ...Unlike your sister.

That, of course, would never leave his mouth.

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Judith smiled as she observed the handshake. She was glad that Yuri and Genis were getting along. The last thing she needed was to have both Raine and Genis hating this guy. That wouldn’t be good. Sure, it would be amusing…but not very pleasant.

She shifted her gaze between the two males before looking in Raine’s direction. She closed the small gap that had developed between where they stood, and took a stab at some not so awkward conversation. “I’m sorry if things aren’t happening the way you had planned” she crossed her arms over her chest and continued, “It’s nice to see Genis and Yuri getting along, though.”

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((OoC: Feel free to NPC Genis; our turn order is now Yuri-Judith-Raine for now.))

Raine nodded, knowing that this wasn't Judith's fault. Calming herself down, Raine knew exactly what would cheer her up.

"MARVELOUS!" Raine gasped, admiring the countless displays of beautiful architexture that Grand Chokmah had to offer. "The juxposition of the arches, the way they redirect the waterfalls, the way the mist forms lucid rainbows all around, and the majesty of the capital...!" Holding her hands to her cheeks as stars filled up her eyes, Raine couldn't contain herself; her ill mood was completely eschewed from her cognition. She couldn't have been happier at this moment.

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Well, never had Yuri ever witnessed someone so... Overjoyed by the sight of things he had grown used to a long while ago. He could barely keep a look of something like disbelief and amusement all mixed together off of his face as he watched Raine transform into, er, a fan girl. A fan girl for... Architecture. All right.

"Always the tourists..." he said as one of his hands moved to rest on his hip. A mock sigh was quick to follow.

Was he just asking for Raine to hate him? No, not really. Totally not. He just choose to seek amusement in the worst ways possible. You know, the ways that other people usually don't appreciate quite as much as he did.

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Genis, who now stood next to Yuri, merely facepalmed at the sight of his older sister going completely ga-ga over the one thing she loved most. While it was good that she was getting to see the things she wanted while here, did she have to lose control of herself like that?

He groaned.

"I was hoping she'd hide it ..." He frowned, stepping to Raine and grabbing her sleeve. "Ooookay, sis, moving onward, there's lots of other things here in Grand Chokmah to see, keep moving, keep moving ..."

He'd never been more embarassed than he was now. Sheesh, Raine!

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Wow. Judith knew Raine had a passion for knowledge…but not a passion that big! It was just architecture, after all. Sure it was calming and nice to look at, but it was also really boring!

Judith shifted her view from the starry eyed professor and her highly embarrassed brother to a very shocked Yuri. She put her hand on her hip, to match Yuri’s stance and mentally sighed.

This should be interesting.

She decided to quickly follow the Sage Siblings. She slightly grabbed Yuri’s hand to get his attention and smiled when he decided to give it. “We should probably follow them before Raine tries something.”

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((ooC: Given Genis-mun's return, our turn order is now Raine-Yuri-Genis-Judith. I also hope nobody minds if I BS some Malkuth history here. If it's all right with everyone, perhaps in another round or two of turns we can wrap this scene up and start potting our next course of action [i.e. Yuri getting run out of Grand Chokmah or something]))

"Genis!" Raine scolded, pointing her finger at his nose. The architecture of Grand Chokmah has a wide and vast history that makes Malkuth proud! Though it belongs to Malkuth now, this area actually used to belong to the Kingdom of Kether, before the War of the Borders! After the War and the Kingdom of Kether was wiped away, Emperor Atem IV in an act of declaration tore down the city that used to be here, sinking the small peninsula of Chokmah, and built this castle city with all of Malkuth's resources!" Raine proclaimed. "How is this not fascinating! The engravings on the material are still there, yet there's little to no erosion from the centuries of water flowing through this city!"

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Judith... Hand... All right! He had to focus on something that wasn't beautiful, blue-haired girls (after he gave said girl a smile, of course -- couldn't make it look like he was ignoring her). Something else, something else...

He couldn't help but give a low whistle at the plethora of knowledge that spilled forth from Raine's mouth. Talk about a walking encyclopedia. It had been a long time since he had met anyone that could claim to know so much about such useless things. Eh, to each their own and all of that.

"You seem to know an awful lot." He sounded a little, er, nicer this time as he spoke, and not so much like the awful man that had made the 'tourist' comment. No, he's totally not like him in the least. "Isn't there anything else you'd like to see?" That isn't, you know, just buildings and things that could put him to sleep.

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“Oh, why don’t we go to the park?” Judith suggested with a warm smile. It would be a place that Raine could thoroughly analyze due to how old it was and a place where Genis and Yuri could just sit and observe.

Everyone would win!

Without waiting for anyone to agree, Judith turned around on her heels and began walking in the direction of the park. As she walked through the park entrance she noticed her usual seat on the rim of the large fountain. Judith quickly walked over to her seat, sat down, and sighed gratefully. It had been 4 years since she last sat there.

She turned her attention to her three companions. She only hoped that they would enjoy the park as much as she would.

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((OoC: All right, we should probably wrap this up soon... Ami, any idea how to get Yuri run out of Gran Chokmah, or should we just leave it up to our imaginations like "the noodle incident"? In any case, during this next round (the next time it's Raine's turn) this scene will close, and a new log in the Theor forest will begin.))

Raine simply calmed down, taking a brochure about Grand Chokmah with her as she sat down and immersed herself into the literature. For a while, at least, the others wouldn't have to worry about hearing her go on and on about everything.

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