Chevaleresse

Justine was having her own issues staying composed, but the root cause was rather far removed from those of the others. The queen was, quite frankly, adorable, and having her come all this way to offer her support to Virtuous despite the myriad risks involved set her heart positively a-flutter. And then to discover that Arthur was a prince of some kind? It almost felt like a story straight out of her old fairy tale books. "I can't express how happy that your wanting to help us makes me. It warms my heart to learn that the gracious queen is even kinder than the tales tell of her." She resisted the urge to add more to her praising of the woman; she didn't want to come off as too forward, after all, and Kane had asked her to tone it down for a bit. "The idea that a humble Minstrel such as myself would be working with someone so fair is mindblowing."

Justine smiled beneath her mask - one put on with reluctance - at the question. That infernal butler might not actually ruin her chance, after all. "I'm glad you asked. Some, yes, call us criminals, thieves, brigands or even murderers. And it's true; some of our activities might not be strictly within the established law and order of the land. Denying this would only be the most baldfaced of deceptions, and it pains my heart to conceal any more than I absolutely must before Your Grace. I assure you, though, we are no common bandits, preying on the innocent to grow fat off of the labor of others. Nay, we are the furthest thing from it. We stand for the downtrodden, those tread upon by those placed above them, by the grim times that have befallen us all. We seek nothing more than to prevent the seven kingdoms from being consumed by the fires of war, to punish the evil and save the innocent, and to create a world in which all can live in peace and prosperity."

Game was decreed dead on Discord, so I'm closing this.

"Listen to yourself. That is Stella, Queen of Ceda, one of the kindest and most compassionate people in Purgus - foreign concepts to you, I know. She appears on a doorstep bereft of all her royal entourage but a single guard, knowing who we are but not bringing the hammer of justice down upon us. What hostile motive could she possibly have, what bizarre scheme lands her at our doorstep like this?" She huffed, waving her sword about in a manner that might've seemed threatening if viewed from afar; a theatrical flourish, if an angry-looking one. "If she meant us harm, we would have awoken to fire and steel, not answered a knock at the door."

I'll accept both Justine/Arthur and Justine/Cecily

That face was unmistakable to Justine, even partially cloaked. "It's you- I can't-" Whatever the woman was going to stammer out next was interrupted by her unceremonious movement away from the door, courtesy of the rudest man she had ever had the misfortune of encountering in her life. Her frame quite literally shook with rage for a moment; another moment, and Justine had taken a step backward, bringing her blade up to point towards the man's throat. "I have had QUITE enough of your self-righteous egotism." She glanced at Kane and her expression briefly changed to an apologetic one, before hardening and returning to Kane. "Since civilized ways of settling things have seemingly just wafted through that hollow between your ears, I'll state this plainly. You will mind your tongue, your brutish hands, and your misbegotten magic around me, or I will be forced to carve the idea into you so that you might finally recall it." Her piece said, she turned to Kane to speak without allowing Baldur time to offer his retort. "Kane, the woman outside is the Queen of Ceda. I refuse to believe that we could not trust her."

"Simeon, it's beautiful. I can't express how grateful I am." She took the blade, holding it out in front of her and admiring the craftsmanship for a moment. She took a couple practice swings at the air, testing the balance of the weapon. "Well, not now, come back to me in a week and I might have a sonnet for you." Her admiration was interrupted, however, by the knocking. An expression of concern crossed her face for a moment, but it shifted when she heard the voice echoing into the room. A familiar voice, one she would have never thought to hear in this place. "It can't be. . ." The dancer rushed towards the door, nearly pushing aside Kane in her path and throwing it open.

"How do we plan on locating this sorcerer?" She glanced around at the crowd again. "Visual reconnaissance may be. . . difficult."

Marisa, still annoyed by Rory, careens at the hunter, smashing into him and sending the hunter careening off for [42] damage. She then turns about and casts another seal. A ring of light forms itself about Walmond, glowing for a moment before dissipating as the healer felt himself cut off from his magic. All of Walmond's non-equipment actions are disabled for two turns! Isobel eats a poppy in what is possibly the angriest manner possible, recovering [19] HP. LOTUS, meanwhile, helps Rory position herself to actually get a good angle on Marisa when she comes around next. Rory catches Marisa as she passes by with her lance, dealing [21] damage. The stake explodes right on cue, dealing an additional [10] and painting a slightly startled look across the witch's face. Empi insists she's not a healer while healing herself for [29] HP. Marisa sends out another burst of danmaku, multicolored stars flying at Hikari - until Ritsu intercepts them, absorbing them harmlessly. The rest of the constellation continued flying, off into the woods as Masako deftly avoided the attack once again. Hikari casts another healing spell, causing the bruises and burns of Walmond, Isobel, Lambda, amd Empi to begin fading away. They heal for [19]. Marisa flies upward, gaining altitude and raising a hand in the air. Rays of light begin to rise up from the earth below, almost looking as if she's targeting herself as they frame her once more. Marisa's Light Sign "Earthlight Ray" targets Walmond and Lambda! In one turn, they will take 32 damage! The attack seems like it could be easy to deal with if you focused on it. . . She also activates another Condition Card! Marisa will instantly use Hate-Colored Master Spark if she drops to 0 HP! Lasts for 1 turn. Masako fires another quick burst of danmaku at the witch as she begins her final assault, dealing 23 damage. Walmond attempts to heal, but the spell sputters and fails due to the interference of hostile magic. Lambda takes up a defensive stance. Ritsu charges at Marisa, who simply dips below the arc of the attack. Initiative Status

"Well, we load up, then we get the job done. Look down the places we haven't been, cap any zombies we see, and roll out before someone manages to kill themselves." Spook looked for the biggest weapon he could find, being accustomed to that sort of thing, as well as grabbing a sidearm and a knife.

Hiroki took a step backward, then fiddled with a few HUD settings to adjust for the light. Then, she studied the tiles. Was there a difference between the first couple tiles and the one that had activated the trap? Would the trap activate again if she put weight on it?

After letting out a startled curse at the cacophony of gunfire, and taking a moment to try (and mostly fail) to get used to the racket, he responded to Ena, voice pitched up to be audible over the noise. "I'll come with you. I want to test some things too, and we can talk in there, at least." He glanced at Satomi. "You coming?"

Justine rolled her eyes at Baldur's outburst, but didn't say anything. She instead looked toward their apparent newest member. He had an... interesting method of introducing himself to the group, but if nothing else, she could appreciate the boldness. Timidity never made for a good story, after all, and it certainly made an impression. "Aaanywayyy... Could I have that ribbon back? It's nothing special to anyone but me." And her, she added quietly. She still occasionally wondered if she should have stayed with that girl, but they were people on different paths that happened to cross in life. "Though you did give something to make fun of Cecily for, at least."

Brigitte ducked behind her shield as the thing exploded into blood. The half-angel let loose another burst of flame, rather indiscriminately, trying to keep the stuff off of her. She wasn't really worried about adverse effects, so much as not wanting to replace her outfit this early in her outing. "Come on, demons have no taste. No curses or anything, you're just gonna ruin my outfit?" After both the blood and flames vanished, she took another moment to gather her own energy again before turning back to look at the rest of the group. "Well, at least the path's clear. Let's go."

Justine briefly considered teasing the man about the flush she noted, but decided that it might stray too close to a sensitive area, and held her tongue for the moment. Instead, she offered another flamboyant bow to Arthur as he descended the ladder, and took the chance to gather up the blankets before the wind caught them and swept them away. There was a definite moment where she was eyeing the distance between the roof and the ground, but she elected to refrain from any stunts this early in the morning; plus, she didn't want to risk tearing any shingles off with her theatrics (another thing that had gotten a lecture from her sister at one point. Instead, she simply folded up the blankets, tossed them onto Arthur once he was safely on the ground, then slid down herself before he could recover. "Thank you for taking those," she said playfully, before reaching out to retrieve the blankets. "I'm glad we had a chance to make second first impressions, so to speak." She nodded at Arthur, then headed inside.

Justine woke up with a contented-sounding groan, despite the less than optimal sleeping conditions. She stretched, noting with dull surprise that she had a blanket on her. It must have been. . . Kane, Cecily would have chewed her ear off if she saw her sleeping up here next to a man. "Good morning, Arthur. . . I suppose I nodded off watching the stars." She didn't sound like she regretted it though, as she sat up, displaying a severe case of bed head. "I suppose we should get down before we miss breakfast." She lifted her arms over her head in another stretch, then laid back and kicked upward, rising to her feet in one smooth motion and sending the blanket aflutter. Before moving toward the latter, she reached a hand toward Arthur. "Shall we?"

"I'm fine. Look after yourself," Rhian said gruffly. She still felt like this was all starting to get absurd; who were these animal people, and why was one of them following the group around now? She almost said something about the quantity of dirt Argos seemed to be eating lately, but she wasn't out to crush the kid again. The shouting from ahead was worth more of her attention, though; after batting Argos's hands away, she moved up and aimed a shot at yet another spell slinger. T26, shoot scholar

"Gaheris is a wyvern! He's just cooler than all the other wyverns is all." The creature in question took slow, careful steps towards Galen, watching him intently and sniffing at him. "He did eat a deer that one time, but he's usually pretty friendly. Have you seen any tea shops around here, by the way? Or . . . Oh, right, knights? I was supposed to be looking for a knight. . ."

"Well, then I guess I'm taking your first time~" Justine said teasingly, glancing at Arthur coyly before chuckling and laying back. "That just means there's more for you to see." She pointed upward at a set of stars, and traced out a shape that might have been a man. "Like the Hunter, who followed his true love into the heavens themselves; legend has it that he's still searching for her. You can't see her right now, though; by the time she's visible in the night sky, he's gone to the other side of the world in search of her. Some people say it's tragic, but. . . neither of them has given up yet, so I don't think so."

The dancer thought for a moment, before evidently stumbling upon an idea. "Here, follow me." She gestured towards Arthur, then moved to walk around the edge of the building. "There's a flat spot on the roof." Almost as if on queue, a ladder almost seemed to appear around the corner out of the night. She climbed it deftly, the stress of the day not seeming to slow her down on her way up. "They say that there's an infinite number of stories written in the night sky. They've watched every single triumph and tragedy in the world." She settled down on the roof once she arrived, and patted a spot next to her before laying back.

Justine gave Arthur another small smile as she stepped away slightly, letting that space exist between them again. "I appreciate that, Arthur. I really do." She sighed slightly. "I suppose I've probably calmed down enough to not throw things at Baldur on my way back in, but I think I might stay and enjoy the moonlight a little longer. I won't keep you, but it's been a while since I did so with company other than my own thoughts."

Justine patted Arthur's back. She very nearly stroked the man's hair, but figured that might be a bit too much contact for someone she'd just met; her hand stopped in the midst of moving upward and simply patted him again instead. "Any time, Arthur. We all have our own stories; not all of them have reached the happy parts yet, but hopefully that's what your time in Virtuous will be." She held the man for a few moments longer, letting him decide how much was appropriate. "Whether you need my ear, my shoulder, or my arm, I'll always be around."

"Oh, Arthur. . ." She hadn't been sure what to expect, but nearly bursting into tears hadn't been what she expected from him. Though he had already shown a surprising amount of depth. . . Still, that wasn't worth pondering at the moment. Without hesitating, she closed the rest of the distance between the two of them and pulled Crimson into a tight hug. "You don't need to. Not until you're ready. I understand."

Justine smiled. "I appreciate that, Arthur." She sighed slightly, then shook her head. "I shouldn't waste my time on people who want to judge me for petty things like the kinds of jokes I make. I hope he learns to look deeper than that, eventually." She walked slightly closer to the man. "And. . . If you need to talk, my ears and mind are always open." She paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face. After a moment, she made her decision; she'd never been one to play it safe, after all. "I have been wondering, though. . . what exactly about what I said earlier struck so deeply? If you feel you can speak of it, of course."

The dancer sighed, not quite turning to face Arthur just yet. She wasn't sure what she was planning on doing when she got outside, anyway. "I thought he was. I had hoped that we could come to some kind of mutual understanding, but words don't seem to have any effect on him. I thought. . . I thought better of him. Of Virtuous." She was quiet for a moment before finally turning about. "If nothing else, you've at least admitted you have a fault, and apologized. It would be silly for me to hold it against you." Justine shook her head. "You know, I joined Virtuous in part so I could be who I believed I was, without having to worry about being judged or outcast for the way I speak, or the way I act."