Act II - Paths to Destiny

[NPC]

Somewhere in MÄR Heaven, an emty castle on a cold and misty day. Five days have passed since the prisoners of Lestava had escaped.

A figure in a cloak and a hood slipped through the barely open gates of the deserted castle. It went through a door and down the stairs. Countless stairs. It's steps echoed from the dungeon walls, or rather dungeon halls' walls. Everything around was covered in darkness. No torches, no lights. The figure reached a huge door and knocked.

"Yes?" a female voice asked.
"It's me!" the young man in the cloak said.
"Vincent? Come in!"
The young man called Vincent pushed the heavy door open and entered the big hall that seemed to be even darker than the corridor. Still there was enough light so he could make out the shape of a big chair at the other side. Someone was sitting there.
"I have a message. The people took a boat to Hild."
"Those Luna is with? Why Hild?" the woman asked.
"We don't know that yet, your Majesty. There are rumors that one of them is a member of the guild."
"Luberia... Yes, that's what Alviss told me as well. But he also said we shouldn't trust rumors spread by the Heaven's Sword itself too much." the woman said absorbed in thoughts.
"Indeed. But what should we do now?"
"We still don't know where Luberia's current hideout is. As long as I cannot get in touch with Nanashi I cannot confirm whether this is true or not. But I have to know who the people who freed or kidnapped Luna are... Vincent, please call Marlene."
"Pardon?" Vincent asked surprised.
"I will entrust this task to her. And you will go on with yours. Do you understand?"
Vincent hestitated "... well,... okay. As you order, your Majesty." He made a bow and went outside the room, turned right and made his way down the endless seeming corridors. When he pushed another door open he was almost blinded by the light. The room he had entered was as big as the one before but it was much brighter and (what most) warmer. "Marlene-kun?"

[angelwithoutwings07]

Marlene turned around as she noticed the door creaking. "Vincent-san?" she asked, smiling "Vincent-san! You're back!"."Is something the matter?" she asked, but quickly answered her own self "I know! Queen Snow must have called! Well, see you latter Vincent-san!" She said as she raced through the corridors, leaving Vincent, not having any chance to speak another word, behind.

[NPC]

Vincent had only enough time to turn around when the door behind him smashed closed. He sighed. That girl was sure bothersome. But he had promised her brother to keep an eye on her and that's why he had to accept it. "Not an easy task, Martin, really!" he whispered.
Vincent went to make some tea before leaving and wondered why he had the feeling that something would happen very soon.

[Neo]

The sun was shining brightly and people around were busy at Port Norin. Scarlet sat on a little wall and watched the sailors run about. Thank good no one seemed to notice her (exept those idiots who whistled after her now and then). This new dress was definitly better than her old one...
"Where IS this guy? We wanted to meet at 12 o'clock and now it's 12.15 already." she said. "Hope nothing happened. If he picked people's pockets again and and got himself into trouble we might miss our boat! What do you think, Luna-san? Is that likely? Or is he just flirting with some girls again?"

[AlRoChan]

Luna, who was fiddling around with her hair, quickly turned her head a little bit frantically to Scarlet. Well, at least she thought Scarlet was in the direction she was looking at. It would've been embarassing to speak to an empty space while the person she's addressing to is actually somewhere else.
"Well... Kaya-san is a nice guy..." she stammered. "He might be fiddling around with girls right now, though, but I'm sure he won't steal anything -- at least not in this situation..."

[ichigo-usagi wizu]

Kaya walked along the way to Port norin saying greetings the sweet way to every girls he passed by when he realized... he was ABSOLUTELY late. he raced as fast as he could not thinking anything anymore about the girls and skidded along the corner swearing to himself that he'll gat killed if they missed the boat. near the edge of the sea, he saw a red-faced Scarlet and Luna who seems to be a bit worried.

"Hey! sorry I'm late... i was having a little bit of fun"

[AlRoChan]

Luna sighed with relief as she heard Kaya's voice. Thank goodness he showed up! Scarlet seemed to be losing her patience, and Luna didn't want any trouble to show up between Kaya and the princess, so she was pretty relieved that Kaya finally showed up -- without getting into trouble.
"Kaya-san!" she called out. "Why are you late...?"

[ichigo-usagi wizu]

"well," started the confession, "there's the little missy there, and the other one winked at me... so i have to at least give a reply, right? i don't want to make cuties sad... and by the way sorry, Luna-chan, Scarlet-chan" he apologized.

"So, will we get goin'?"

[Neo]

Scarlet pulled a face. She didn't say a word took Luna's hand and Kaya's ear and pulled both in the direction of the boat they planned to take.
She was not in the mood of playing games. The less since she had that feeling again... they were being watched. "Thank god there seem to be no pretty girls on that boat..." she said. "Maybe Mr. Lovesick will cool down during the trip."

[AlRoChan]

Luna was pretty happy that Scarlet didn't get really angry at Kaya, and now that they caught their boat, it would reduce the chance of getting caught again. She was happy to leave that castle, and Kaya must've been used to this kind of travelling, but what about Scarlet? The thought hovered in her mind for a while. She's a princess, a girl with a father who must've cared about her, with a castle for her home. Wouldn't this travelling be awkward for her?
"Scarlet-san?" she asked quietly. "Aren't you gonna miss home?"

[Neo]

They walked up the ramp to the boat. Scarlet turned her head to Luna and finally let Kaya's ear go in order to make him stop complaining. "Home? You mean Lestava? That's not my home. It's such a creepy place for me. My only home is a little country called Arelahn on the continent of Hild... though... I didn't feel at home there either after my mother died. Ah, but that's such a depressing story. I don't want to bother you with it."

[AlRoChan]

Luna was amazed at how tough this princess was. She smiled and nodded at her. She wouldn't mind listening to her story, but she would rather not ask about it in case Scarlet didn't like talking about it. She focused on the journey instead.
"So... how long will this journey be?" she asked.

[angelwithoutwings07]

Marlene stopped in front of the door as she caught her breath. She slowly opened the door, looking around. "Um... Queen? Are you calling me?" she said as she just realized Vincent had not told her that the queen called her. But its just too late to admit how careless she had been, isn't it?

[ichigo-usagi wizu]

"Awww" Kaya pouted. he didn't like this kind of journey. no girls, no fun! he walked around at the sea. that little princess had been actìng like she is the leader of the group since they broke out of the castle.

[Neo]

"I don't know." Scarlet said. "You have to ask Kaya-kun." And that was the part Scarlet disliked about this journey. Of course she had a lot of hope in Kaya. She needed him to gather the rebellion. And he was, well, definitly something to look at.
On the other hand... the way this man acted in the past five days was inacceptable! Scarlet could not remember losing her temper that often before. He said he wanted to defeat her father but the way he behaved... in her opinion he took things too easy. Could she really depend on him?