Fantasy —◦✧the world that time forgot✧◦—

[Kent]

Sima Long
Phaland City Streets
​

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As the carriage approached the castle, Sima noticed that the number of people around them was growing. It seemed as if they were congregating towards the castle. It got so dense that the carriage could barely pass through. The driver had to keep shouting, "Make way for the Royal Carriage!" until some people would make way but his voice usually gets drowned in the chatter of the mass.

Sima got curious as to what would make these people crowd towards the castle. So he looked at them closely and noticed that most if not all of them were commoners so he guessed that the King must be having a public audience today. That would explain the massive crowd since nobody would refuse an audience with the King.

The Driver kept shouting and the carriage would barely move before stopping again. Sima sighed and took out a paper with complicated-looking patterns from his sleeves. He pointed it at the Driver and muttered, "Amplify." The paper talisman disappeared into motes of light and the driver's voice was suddenly amplified.

"MAKE WAY FOR THE ROYAL CARRIAGE!" The driver shouted in a voice much louder than what it was earlier. The people around them quieted, looked at the carriage and the driver whose voice would earn him amazing remarks from military commanders and made way. The driver himself couldn't believe it but he maintained his composure and returned to driving the carriage towards the castle. Of course, he had to repeat his shouts every hundred meters until they reached the castle.

Sima left the carriage and thanked the driver for his hard work The driver bowed at Sima and then drove the carriage to its appropriate spot. While he was driving, he kept shouting albeit in a lower voice compared to earlier, "Make way for the Royal Carriage! Make way for the Royal Carriage!" but the loud voice he was expecting didn't come out, instead what he earned was weird gazes from the castle workers around him.

Spoiler: Meme

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[spookie]

^━anghel━​

━━━━━━❦━━━━━━
✧ mood – confident ✧ mentioned – fan ✧ tags – Ayama ✧
—◦✧◦✧◦—

Having managed to land with surprising grace despite how carelessly he'd been thrown by the guards, Anghel lay motionless for a moment with his long, teal hair fanned out around him as he brought the back of his hand to his forehead and sighed dramatically.

"And you love me for that," he teased Fan once they'd left, before regaining his breath and standing. "Call me anything you want, but at least it couldn't possibly be boring."

Anghel stretched lazily in his small and dingy cell, taking it in with a vague sort of disdain. The dungeon of Phaland's castle was not unique in any way, having all the rusted mildewy charm he'd come to expect from such places. It took him no time at all to examine the locking mechanism, and he couldn't help but smirk at how simplistic it was.

"Well, this is going to be easy..." he mumbled, manifesting the ideal tool for his escape with an effortless wrist flick. "If only that damn brat hadn't left a mark on my pretty face, I'd say this went perfectly."

It took Anghel's nimble and practiced hands just over a minute to produce the satisfying click he'd been waiting for. Freedom, once again.

"Ready when you are," he shrugged in Fan's direction. "I know the general area of the access tower already, shouldn't be hard to get there with all the crowds of Open Day providing such a major distraction."


━━━━━━❦━━━━━━​

code by spookie ​

 

[Ayama]

Liu Fan
"The Shadow"

Location: Castle dungeon
With: Anghel​

Fan rolled her eyes as Anghel gave yet another over-the-top performance, the expression one of utmost familiarity to the pair of them since the day she'd inextricably linked her life to his.

"And you love me for that," he teased, to which she merely replied with a sardonically raised eyebrow- another familiar expression.

"Call me anything you want, but at least it couldn't possibly be boring," he added as he stood up. She rolled her eyes again.

"Yes," she agreed, her tone dry as autumn leaves, "and boring is precisely what you could stand to be, Ghel. I don't even know how you survived before we met, what with me having to save your ass every time one of your schemes backfires."

"Let's just say, I have my ways," Anghel replied darkly, uncharacteristically serious. Fan blinked, and the moment was past as his usual teasing expression returned. "Not like I have to worry about it now though- I know you'd never, ever let me die." The assassin gritted her teeth- it was one of his favorite things to say.

"Watch yourself, Ghel," she warned menacingly, "or someday I just might." It was an absolute lie, or course, and they both knew it.

Anghel stretched lazily, taking in the dungeon with obvious disdain and preparing to pick the lock. "Well, this is going to be easy..." he declared, producing his usual tool. "If only that damn brat hadn't left a mark on my pretty face, I'd say this went perfectly." This warranted another eyeroll.

"If you had bothered to exercise some kind of self-control with him, he wouldn't have, and you know it," she remarked pointedly, watching as he effortlessly picked the lock.

"Look, I was just being honest with that child..." he said by way of defense. "Short guys are so oversensitive. Ready when you are," he shrugged. "I know the general area of the access tower already- shouldn't be hard to get there with all the crowds of Open Day providing such a major distraction."

"Your 'honesty', as you are well-aware, is the problem," she replied. By 'honesty' she was, of course, referring to his tendency (read, uncontrollable habit) of infuriating anyone he met just because he could. She knew this first-hand as, not only was she witness to it on a regular basis, having to deal with the problematic situations that arose from it, but was also its unwilling target more often than she cared to reflect on.

She nodded at the latter part of his statement, melting back into the shadows as usual, her voice fading in the air as she disappeared.

"Lead the way."

"In life I serve . . . .

. . . . in death I pay."

 

[Jolly Roger]

Mentioned - Caspian ( boo. ), Liz( BittyBobcat ), Vincent ( Yuu Vee Rays ), Nao ( Ayama ), Luck ( LazyDaze )

Demetriosa smirked as Caspian, fed up by the group's antics, directed an exasperated look at her. "Liz is right you know. It wouldn't hurt to lighten up a bit. I personally think the new nick-name's cute; that snobby prep school attitude of yours certainly isn't, though." Demetriosa admired her childhood acquaintance's considerable talents and steadfast nature, but the man could be unbearably uptight at times. Still, it was had been quite generous of Caspian to join their team after she had written him the letter requesting his assistance. Of course there was definitely a personal motive at work, perhaps even some of the same misplaced affection for Gramps which still dwelled so uncomfortably within Rosa herself.

A sudden commotion erupted behind her, and Demetriosa turned to discover a pale young man steadying himself on his feet, the victim of an unfortunate collision. Next to him was a familiar face - the cheerful mechanic named Nao, who appeared as if he had just gotten off a shift - along with another stranger, looking roguish in an earring, bandana, and eyepatch. "Nice finally seeing you show up to the party, Nao." Rosa said. "I'm afraid you didn't miss much. Are these friends of yours or did you three just happen to bump elbows?"

 

[spookie]

^━hope━​

━━━━━━❦━━━━━━
✧ mood – a lil nervous ✧ mentioned – everyone ✧ tags – anyone nearby ✧
—◦✧◦✧◦—

•TIME SKIP APPROX. 4 HOURS, LATE AFTERNOON, JUST OUTSIDE THE CASTLE DOORS•

Hope had enjoyed bantering with his friends as they waited, even if spending hours in a seemingly unending line was beyond dull. The lively atmosphere of Phaland City had at least provided them with free entertainment, though it hadn't stopped some of the young orphan's companions from growing weary.

At last however, they were past the castle's gates and only a few spaces behind the group of merchants who'd last been invited through its towering mahogany doors. Royal servants generally ushered in about twenty people at a time, and Hope was sure he and his friends would be in the next wave. It was an idea that left him feeling both excited and a bit nervous... would they be able to convince the King?

Hope wasn't sure what he'd do if the ruler refused. He and the others had spent countless time and considerable money preparing for their journey, so much so that denial seemed almost impossible. It would go well... it had to. Just imagining the looks on the faces of his companions if they failed was enough to make the boy's already weak heart feel like breaking.

And so, putting on his brightest smile, Hope turned to face his friends. "This is it everyone, it's almost our turn," he enthused, trying to keep any of his nervousness from showing, "just think, this time tomorrow we'll be preparing for a real adventure!" The way he jumped and flung his fist in the air with childish enthusiasm may have attracted a few odd looks from people nearby, but Hope truly didn't care.

Though partially obscured by the towering form of the castle ahead, he was still able to see a grand airship hovering effortlessly beside the access turret it was docked to.

"Wow," Hope half-whispered, "I've never seen one this close before... hard to believe we'll be on one of those things."


━━━━━━❦━━━━━━​

code by spookie ​

 

[spookie]

•CHARACTER LOCATIONS•

orphans & friends group:
Hope, Liz, Evergreen, Omotholo, Caspian, Nao, Demetriosa, Amaya — all in line outside of the castle waiting

sky rogues group:
Anghel, Fan — escaping the dungeon

currently not in a group:
Luck — in line outside of the castle
Vincent — in line outside of the castle
Annabeth — with her performing troupe
Lucien — inside the castle, guarding the king
Sima — just arrived at the castle

(this was requested in the ooc, if i got your character's location wrong please let me know in the group pm and i'll update this!)​

 

[Kent]

Sima Long
Phaland Royal Castle

As soon as Sima got off the carriage, an attendant approached him and introduced himself, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Young Master Long. I am the Royal Attendant Marcus, here to attend to you in your time at the castle."

Sima didn't expect that the one who would escort him would be someone other than Lucien since it was always him who would greet Sima every time he arrives at the castle. Sima guessed Lucien must be at the King's side since this is a big event. Sima looked at Marcus and returned the greetings, "Greetings Attendant Marcus, you can just call me Sima."

"Young Master Sima." Marcus replied in acknowledgment. "Please follow me, I'll escort you to the throne room where His Majesty is holding his public audience."

"Before that, I need to talk to a friend." Sima said and Marcus bowed in reply. Sima saw a familiar face earlier while he was getting off the carriage. He walked towards a group of people in the line, specifically a man wearing the uniform of the Phaland Academy.

"Hello, Caspian. It's been a long time since we met." Sima greeted the academy student and then directed his attention to the other people in the group and smiled. "Greetings, you must be Caspian's companions. I'm Sima, a painter. May I ask the reason why your group is queuing up to meet the King?"

Sima noticed that they were in the group based on a couple of details; How they interacted, their distance to each other, and their body language among others.

boo. spookie Anyone else in the group​

 

[boo.]

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2

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1

[/div] [div class="stats tabsContent tabsContent2" style="display:none;"]mood: surprised | outfit: xx | interactions: Sima, Omotholo, Liz, Demetriosa, Nao | tags: BittyBobcat _Line 213 Jolly Roger Ayama [/div] [div class="textcontainer tabsContent tabsContent2" style="display:none;"][div class=text]Four hours. Four hours. Caspian, by judging the current position of the sun and the length of the shadows around him, was despairing. It wasn't as if he had planned anything else to do, but this was slowly killing him. The orphans around him couldn't shut up, couldn't stop bugging him -- Caspie? Seriously? He was older than most of them! Didn't he demand any respect at all?

And yet, Caspian hadn't walked away. He hadn't admitted it to himself yet, but these people were the only family he had ever known. They were idiots, complete fools, but they were his idiots. There was a feeling in his gut that told him not to leave, that they needed him. So he stayed.

Caspian found himself hiding near the center of the group; royal guards were all over the place, wearing similar uniforms to himself. He could feel mocking eyes drilling over him, smirking glares judging his companions. His cheeks were already flushed from the beating sun, but a snarl played over his lips. He was silent, standing as still as a statue with his eyes straight ahead. It was almost admirable, the fashion with which he carried himself and the fact that he gave no satisfaction of acknowledgement to the other guards around him.

It was probably a good thing he didn't recognize any of the guards. He desperately hoped that they wouldn't remember him, in case he ever ran into them again. Caspian's hopes to remain anonymous suddenly faded away in an instant -- he spotted a tall robed man wading through the crowds toward him. However, rather than dreading the encounter, Caspian found himself relieved to find a kind familiar face.

"Hello, Caspian. It's been a long time since we met."

"Master Sima!" Caspian bowed at the waist and approached with a half-smile, almost tripping over Omotholo in the process. "It's good to see you. You're here for the Open Day? . . ."

He trailed off as Sima questioned his companions. "They're -- just childhood friends. We're asking about a mutual acquaintance," he interrupted, slightly embarrassed for the company around him.

"Has work brought you back to Phaland, or something else?" Caspian tried to change the subject. He dared to glare over at several of the orphans -- not to name names, but particularly Liz, Demetriosa, and Nao -- almost begging them not to ruin everything. [/div][/div] [/div][div class=credit]code by sox[/div]

 

[Yuu Vee Rays]

Annabeth was standing in line next to those who still had business with the king. She was only allowed to stay with them after she promised to be on her best behavior. They had finally managed to make it inside after four hours, and she wasn't about to get them kicked out by throwing a fuss. But that didn't mean she wasn't angry. The sudden cancelation of their performance and the reason had set those in line ablaze, though whether that was because they were more passionate about their craft, or because they were the youngest was anyone's guess. So she remained quiet, listening to everything around her with her eyes closed, pretending what it would be like to get cross with the King of the country. What it would be like to reveal her actual feelings of the state of the country and his lack of actual leadership to fix what was broken in the lower caste's lives. And that wasn't something that was just brought to her attention by a cancelation. She seethed with each step closer to the royal bastard, and decided that, while she promised that she remain quiet and obedient before and during their audience with the King, she never promised to stay those things as they were heading out to meet the others. It wasn't like she would ever see the royal pain in the ass after today, anyways. She would make sure the troupe leader didn't take jobs from anyone who had the money and luxury to just cancel their jobs at their whimsical emotions.

Vincent was standing behind the man that he had unabashedly ran into earlier. He had put his sketchbook and pencil away, holding his bag close to his chest. He couldn't believe what an idiot he was! He may have gotten off without incident, but who knew why that was the case. It could be any number of reasons that started with whatever thread of excuses or inabilities that had been brought to the older man's attention. And he couldn't even thank the young girl who had picked up his book and pencil before she ran off to be with her group. So, all he could at that moment, was stand perfectly still save for the time he could actually move forward when the people in front of him did. He could only hope that he'd be able to catch her before she left and he never saw her again. Because when would he ever meet anyone standing in this line again, unless they all gathered like this next year. But he did know he wasn't planning on trying something this grandiose without his father's knowledge again. And, if things went wrong with his negotiations today, then there would defiantly be no need for him to ever set foot in the royal capitol again.

 

[Ayama]

Yuan Naoyuki
"Nao"

Location: Castle doors
With: Orphans, Sima​

By the time they finally reached the castle doors, the day was already half over and Nao was beginning to get antsy. Even though talking with Hope and the others about the ship they might get and the great adventures they would have and what seeing Gramps again was going to be like was fun and helped to make the time pass, ultimately he always preferred having something to do, something to work with- something to keep his hands and his mind occupied.

At that moment, a welcome distraction arrived in the form of a fancy carriage pulling up to the palace gates. Out of the carriage stepped an elegant, long-haired someone in gorgeous traditional robes and carrying an ornate parasol. The person was greeted by one of the palace attendants. Then, to Nao's surprise, they turned and headed straight for their group. He wondered what on earth they could want with them, and the explanation came when they stopped in front of Caspian, greeting him by name.

Nao's eyes went wide- not only at the fact that Caspian knew this elegant person, but that the person in question was a guy. He just seemed far too pretty to be a guy, somehow. Though then again, that's what he used to think about Caspian when they were kids as well. He registered the name, and the bit about being a painter, smiling when he greeted them as well.

When Caspian responded with uncharacteristic enthusiasm, almost tripping over Omo in his attempt to greet his acquaintance, Nao's eyes went even wider. Not only was Caspian extremely respectful towards this person, bowing at the waist and addressing him as 'Master' and everything, but he seemed enthused about seeing him, which was something exceedingly rare. Caspian didn't have respect for hardly anyone, and he was enthusiastic about other people even less than that. Something about this bothered him, though Nao couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

When Caspian referred to them as being '...just childhood friends', his temper flared up, especially when it made it quite clear he was ashamed of them and attempting to change the subject. When he glanced back at them uncertainly, his eyes clearly pleading with them not to embarrass him, for Nao, that was just the final straw.

Loping up to join the pair, he ostentatiously draped his arm around Caspian's shoulder, exactly in the way he hated. Caspian didn't like being touched, anything remotely resembling affection or over-familiarity, or anything that could wrinkle or dirty his uniform- all of which were Nao's specialties. Grinning lazily at the well-dressed lord, the mechanic drawled

"Oh, come on now Cas, I think we're a little closer than that, mmm?"

He was delighted to see his friend's cheeks redden at the suggestion in his words- the expression was endearingly familiar.

"What was broken . . . .

. . . . can be fixed."

 

[BittyBobcat]

Mentions: Caspian( boo. ), Nao( Ayama )
Interactions: Sima( Kent )

Liz wasn't sure how long they'd been waiting, but she knew it had to be a while. Even she was beginning to get bored. After all, one can only spend so long pointing out birds and attempting to make conversation with passerby (most of these such attempts were unsuccessful). Of course, she talked to her friends, but it was nearly impossible to keep a conversation going for hours on end and have it still be interesting enough to keep her attention.

Now that they were right outside the castle doors, the line seemed to be moving even slower than before. Just as she was about to resort to bird watching once again (chances are she would only spot more pigeons), she noticed a strange man (at least, she was pretty sure they were a man) exiting a well-decorated carriage. Liz could tell from his clothes that he was high-ranking, or -if not- definitely wealthy. No member of the peasantry could afford that ornate of clothing.

After he was greeted by another strange man -a servant to the palace, Liz guessed- he kept walking. She was about to call out a greeting, but before she got the chance the man began walking toward them.

To her surprise, he greeted Caspy (although, out of the entire group, she wasn't particularly shocked to find that it was Caspian that the man greeted). Over their quick exchange, she gathered that the man's name was Sima and that Caspian was oddly respectful toward him.

Master... I wonder if he's ever taught Caspian. Liz wondered. She was tempted to ask, but she'd already annoyed Caspian once today (apparently enough to make him almost leave), and she didn't want to make it any worse (and, judging by the look Cass shot her, he was certainly expecting her to). But, when Nao threw his arm around Caspian's shoulder and cheerfully greeted Sima, she decided well, it's not like I can do much worse now.

"My name's Liz!" She chirped, thoughtlessly holding a hand out to be shaken (one that was, quite notably, covered in splotches of a copper-colored, reflective dust). "We're here to get an airship for a rescue mission!"

 

[_Line 213]

Omotholo Okomokklo
Outside Phaland Castle
Interacting with: The Orphans
Specific Mentions: Caspian ( boo. ), Sima ( Kent ), Nao ( Ayama ), Demetriosa ( Jolly Roger ), Evergreen ( InTheSea ).​

Omotholo's eyes had all but glazed over during the four-hour wait, his attention wavering back and forth and up and down, from the snail-like drift of the clouds in the sky to the cracks and webbing in the cobblestones below; from people-filled avenues to seedy, empty byways. From time to time he left the group, waiting on his own a short distance away--usually atop a low wall or upon an open bench, for the sake of resting his legs and feet. Not once was he bothered, and never was he spoken to by those outside of the little band of orphans, thanks to the raised hood upon his flat grey cloak. He kept track of ambient clock times and of the movement of shadows, watched as the sun reached its apex and sunk behind the buildings again, and always returned to the group once they had moved too far up the line for comfort.

Unlike his fellows, however, Omotholo merely grew all the more anxious the closer the castle grew. Once they could see the gates through the throng of people, the anticipation of the others seemed to increase exponentially, their fires renewed as they realized just how close to the gates they were. For Omotholo, on the other hand, the weight of his dread threatened to drive the air from his lungs. At that point, the fact that they might end up rewarded with their moment of truth after all seemed to be a far more terrible thing to think about compared the prospect of success.

Perhaps it was fair after all to say that he was just as excited about it all as everyone else, though in a distinctly different sense of the word.

As they found themselves standing just outside the gate, a few people down from the end of the line, Omotholo consolidated with the group once again, fearing that they'd leave him behind in their excitement. His thoughts were practically racing at that moment; he had never truly cared all that much for their matron's cooking, but at that point even her simple dishes were a marker of home that he'd pay just about any price to be able to experience. The hardwood floors were worn and often splintered, but they were warm, and, he now realized, now far too far away from home, just the perfectly pleasing shade of brown--

He let out a slight, half-hearted yelp as Caspian lightly knocked him, striding over to some other, seemingly familiar face to exchange pleasantries--even as Nao found the space to throw a wrench into the works. Huffing, Omotholo adjusted his hood, pulling it down in a nervous want for security, before looking back to the front of the line. Whomever that fellow in the carriage was, he seemed important, and Omotholo was in no mood to go about trusting importing-seeming people. What little solace he could find in the idea that his hood would let him pass overlooked was entirely shadowed by the looming castle gates, an apt metaphor for the possibilities that lay beyond.

A nervous whine briefly escaped him. He turned, looking to Evergreen and Demetriosa for comfort instead. Whilst the others seemed to be all bombast or business, whatever sense of stability the boy could count on seemed entirely focused on the other two. Or, well, so he'd like to think--in practice, it probably seemed more like a last-ditch effort to get those he could parlay with to see reason and take everyone home. "...Are we sure that this is a good idea? Um...W-We don't know nearly enough to do anything like this, so--I don't know anything about airships or anything, but all the books I've read say that they're very very complex things, so I doubt that they'd trust a bunch of subjects with things like that anyway, so..."

 

[InTheSea]

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2

[/div] [div class="tab2 tab tabsContent tabsContent2" style="display:none;"]

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[/div] [div class="stats tabsContent tabsContent2" style="display:none;"]mood: excited | outfit: xxx | mentions: Ayama , BittyBobcat , Jolly Roger , Kent , spookie , boo. , _Line 213 | Interacting with: Omotholo and Sima [/div] [div class="textcontainer tabsContent tabsContent2" style="display:none;"][div class=text] While everything and everyone were having their own conversations and goings on, Ever stepped back and sort of observed what was going on around her. Of course she liked conversation herself, but sometimes simply listening was comfortable. Nao finally showed up, to which she offered a friendly smile and a wave. Liz was talking to a stranger that was in front of their group and having a strange conversation about 'voices', which was interrupted by an absentminded man who wasn't paying attention to where he was going and lost what he was holding; it was a little humorous, but before she could even think to assist the poor man, Liz had already found the items that had fallen to the ground and then left the group after seeing something elsewhere. She'll be back. Afterwards, Nao offered some helpful advice to which Ever approved of. Rosa joined their conversation soon after.

-:*:-​

It was around four hours later, and Ever was pretty tired of standing in the line. Which was why she occasionally sat down on the cobblestones to get away from all of the chatter. She was a girl of the woods, of nature, and being trapped among this many people was physically and mentally draining. Not that she didn't enjoy the company, she really adored her companions. Each of them had their own quirks that she admired, she was merely out of her element. It would have been so much better if they were moving around and really enjoying themselves, like those performers before, instead of standing (or in this case, sitting) in an insufferable line to see a stuck up royal.

Hopes voice sang in her ears, and she quickly stood up, feeling a little recharged from her momentary respite. She smiled at him warmly, albeit tiredly. "It's about time I think." She said in agreement, grinning at his childish display of excitement. Her eyes followed her friends, and although the airship was awe-inspiring, it was still scary in it's own way. This she didn't voice however, she had already made the decision to go with Hope, and she would keep that promise.

And very soon after, a royal carriage (which she assumed it was, due to the man shouting just that) made it's way slowly through the crowds. His voice had suddenly got louder, probably by some sort of magic, which practically forced people to part and give the carriage space. She couldn't really see from her position, but when the carriage got to the gates, someone had stepped out. Must be some noble or something. Ah yes, a noble. He had come around to their group and spoke to none other than Caspian. So he was a painter, named Sima. Poor Omotholo had gotten bumped by Caspian as the man went to show Sima respect, and Ever reached a hand to comfort the boy as she lightly gripped his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Omo. We'll get it all sorted out." She smiled at her young friend, then looked back to Sima. She ought to show him respect. "I'm Evergreen. Pleasure to meet you." She bowed her head kindly. [/div][/div] [/div][div class=credit]code by sox[/div]

 

[spookie]

^━hope━​

━━━━━━❦━━━━━━
✧ mood – trying to be brave ✧ mentioned – sima, everyone ✧ tags – tagging everyone cuz important plot point begins Ayama BittyBobcat Yuu Vee Rays _Line 213 InTheSea Jolly Roger Kent LazyDaze BlossomingRosebud ✧
—◦✧◦✧◦—

The appearance of a new (and rather wizard-like, albeit much younger than expected) face brought brief distraction to the rather awkward group of orphans, not that Hope minded one bit. This strange and elegant man shared his hair color and fair complexion, but that was where all similarities ended. A noble of some sort, Hope thought... yet another thing he'd only ever read about in books. How fascinating!

Sima, as he'd called himself, seemed familiar with Caspian, which didn't really surprise Hope. The sight of Nao doing his best to cause chaos did bring a slight giggle to his pale lips, but the boy was polite enough to suppress it before speaking to their finely-clothed guest.

"Greetings," he offered brightly with a bow, "it's really a long story, but what Liz said is correct!"

Before their conversation could go much further, the great mahogany castle doors were swung open with a bang as merchants and peasants alike were shooed towards the exit. Most looked defeated or worn out, but a few of these passing individuals wore an expression more reminiscent of victory. Surely, the orphans would be so lucky as well... right? Gramps was counting on them, so they had to be.

Guards waved through a new set of eager faces, and this time it included all of Hope's friends and those around them. "Keep it moving," they commanded, obviously enjoying their ability to push around so many people. "Next!"

Once inside the dizzingly large castle entrance, the line seemed to move far more swiftly. Whether that was true or just a side effect of being lost amongst such mesmerizing surroundings, the snowy-haired orphan couldn't say. His sparkling eyes darted from the finely woven rugs to the perfect stone walls and gorgeous paintings. "Places like this really exist..." Hope mumbled to himself, taking in the expressions of his companions curiously.

Up ahead and past the ever-shrinking crowd in front of them, Hope was able to make out the figures of the king and what had to be his most trusted guard... who just so happened to be the very same child that had arrested that cool-looking pirate. It felt like forever ago already, but time had a funny way of distorting itself during exciting or terrifying moments, and this one in particular qualified as both.

Now that they were closer, Hope couldn't help but shiver a bit. The man before them was nothing like he'd imagined a king to be. With elegant facial features that hardly looked a day past thirty and flowing raven locks, the only thing he had in common with the rulers of storybooks was a glimmering crown set upon his head. It was the cold apathy of his sapphire eyes that caused Hope's breath to catch roughly in his throat, however. An expression perfectly mirrored by the pretty, almost doll-like guard in the fancy costume standing inhumanly still and straight beside him. They looked extremely similar, actually. Both beautiful in an untouchable, off-putting kind of way.

A wave of dizziness washed over Hope, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. Though he knew great stress was a trigger, the frail boy simply refused to start coughing now. There was far too much at stake, and he felt personally responsible for everything as it had been his idea more so than anyone else's. Turning his attention to his friends, Hope attempted to give them his brightest and most reassuring smile.

"Hey everyone," he spoke to them softly, "we're right after the next person... you're all ready for this, right?"


━━━━━━❦━━━━━━​

code by spookie ​

 

[Yuu Vee Rays]

Annabeth stood at the side with those who had remained in line. They were devastated that the King rejected their pleas for help. And his reason? “The funds you are asking for repairs are needed elsewhere.” So their homes weren’t as important than whatever it was that he deemed the funds go towards. She couldn’t believe the nerve! The towns were what helped his lazy ass stay wealthy, but the little people didn’t have a right to better living? The young actress watched as others made their cases, pleaded with the one man who controlled all, but she wasn’t listening. If she was braver...if she was more daring to stand against him, things could be different..... But it wasn’t possible. She was a mere actress, destined to only experience adventure and being part of the betterment of the people on stage, backed by the power of her illusions.
Annabeth sighed as she made such an illusion; small and insignificant, but it brought her smile back. It was a scaled down version of her father who had passed a few years ago, but was always going to be her number one fan. That was enough to get her by, even if it wasn’t entirely what she wanted. She gave one last glance at the other souls hoping for an audience before ushering her friends out the door. They would make their way out of the castle, go back to their rented rooms, and make a game plan.

Vincent stood behind, growing more and more anxious. It was getting closer and closer to his turn, and he could only think about chickening out. The interior was impressive and those who weren’t guards were dressed a lot nicer than anything he had ever seen. He hugged his bag close to his chest, despite the awkwardness of how it looked. He finally started to look his age in the confines of the castle, looking nervous and fidgety at the concept of meeting the King. And from the faces that kept passing him to allow his progress, things weren’t boding well. So instead, he focused his attention on the people in front of him, paying more attention on whatever they were doing instead of his growing worries.

 

[LazyDaze]

Luck Unsworth

Everything happened so fast. In one moment, he was being assaulted by the face of one clumsy individual. Before he could even react, someone was already helping him pick up his things. Luck, simply studied the man and his belongings before turning back to the front of the line, wondering what he intended to ask the king. Perhaps he would ask him for a better sense of awareness. Nevertheless, he would have to thank him. That little debacle managed to stave off the unreasonably inquisitive girl's interrogation of the existence of another person. Luck smirked after thinking of his performance; he was pleased with himself...such narcisism was rewarding in itself.

"I still got it..."

After 4 hours, Luck was having a battle of epic proportions with none other than the sandman. The only thing keeping him going, was the fact that someone would wind up taking his spot in line should he give in to the sweet dreary sand of slumber. After edging out the sands by a hair he would reach the castle gates only to be rushed by those declined by the king. He didn't care much why they were sent back, until he realized that the chances of him getting his business reinstated was rapidly dwindling down. He would have to think of something to say other than, yo un-shutdown my business. Accounting for the innumerable hours he spent in line, getting his request answered by the king was becoming more imperative from a psychological standpoint. It wasn't long before he was close to the front of the line although it didn't feel like it since there was a particularly large group in front of them. Luck was never one to ease drop...much, but he could have sworn he heard the mention of an air ship a few times from the group ahead of him. They were interesting to say the least, and the silver haired boy in particular seemed to be full of spirits. To bad he was going to get his dreams crushed by the King...probably.

 

[Kent]

Sima Long
Phaland Royal Castle

"You don't have to call me Master." Sima chuckled as he watched the different reactions of the group to his arrival. Some were respectful of him, some were wary, and some were amazed. He greeted those who introduced themselves and waved his hands with a smile, "I'm not that really important. Just a painter invited by the King for a commission."

"We're going to the same place so I'll just tag along." Sima said the moment the servants allowed the group to move forward. "I'm quite interested in your rescue mission, maybe you could guys could share with me the details after the audience with the King."

They arrived at the throne room and Sima didn't really give it much of a glance since he's been here before a lot of times. The first thing he noticed was the King sitting on his throne and his dear friend Lucien a couple of steps away from him. Sima smiled at Lucien and waved his hands.​

 

[boo.]

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[/div] [div class="tab2 tab tabsContent tabsContent2" style="display:none;"]

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[/div] [div class="stats tabsContent tabsContent2" style="display:none;"]mood: trying to keep it together | outfit: xx | interactions: Nao, Liz, Sima, Hope | tags: Ayama BittyBobcat Kent spookie [/div] [div class="textcontainer tabsContent tabsContent2" style="display:none;"][div class=text] Caspian immediately wished he could just drop dead. His face heated with embarrassment as Nao leaned heavily on him and have a remark with lewd implications. He tried to compose himself, stiffly bearing Nao's cheeky behavior, but his eye twitched with fury as Liz practically revealed their whole mission.

"We're here to get an airship for a rescue mission!"

"See, what she really means--" cried Caspian, but was cut off by Hope's interjection which seemed to support Liz's outburst. So we're just going to tell everyone what we're doing? Great. Splendid idea. Why not just shout it from the rooftops that they were trying to track down some old man they barely knew, and thought that the best way to do so was by convincing the king to give them an airship?

Sima, calm and collected as ever, room everything in stride, somewhat easing Caspian's frantic urges. In addition, the imposing doors of the castle creaked open, meaning that it was time for the orphans to enter for their audience.

Caspian tried to step forward, but realized that Nao's arm was still wrapped around him. "Do you mind?" he growled, wrenching himself away and straightening his uniform before following the group inside. The castle architecture, at least on the inside, was similar to that of the Academy, although on a grander scale. The ceilings were taller, the tassels were longer, everything shone brighter with a richer sort of glow.

The castle was still a bit of a novelty to Caspian; he had been inside its walls only twice before, and both of those times had been in smaller chambers where he could study rare maps and materials. The throne room was completely new to him, and this was the closest he had been to the royal family.

Something in the air made Caspian stand a little taller, and his face took on a proud sort of glow. He was a part of this grandeur--perhaps indirectly, but his association with the Academy put him right alongside the other royal guards. In a sense, they were all his brethren. Ambition rose into his throat, a thought that maybe if the king could see the quality of these orphans, then he would give them what they asked for.

As they waited their turn, Hope turned to the group and addressed them quietly, his pale face a stark contrast to the lush colors of the palace.

"You're all ready for this, right?"

Caspian nodded tersely, his lips pressed into a thin line. Don't mess it up, don't mess it up... Was he begging the others, or himself? Caspian wasn't sure. Maybe both.

[/div][/div] [/div][div class=credit]code by sox[/div]

 

[spookie]

• Anghel
• Lucien

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  ^━anghel━​

  
  

  
  

  ━━━━━━❦━━━━━━
  ✧ mood – curious ✧ mentioned – fan, everyone in the throne room ✧ tags – Ayama ✧
  —◦✧◦✧◦—
  
  Fan, dearest companion that she was, had asked him to lead the way, and that's exactly what Anghel was doing. Well, that and stopping to taunt the nearby prisoners, many of whom sent murderous glares in his direction. Their envy was palpable, though it only made him roll his unbandaged eye as he strolled past them.
  
  "Jealousy is a disease," Anghel cooed in a disgustingly sweet tone, "get well soon!"
  
  He was entirely sure Fan would cringe in horror at his reckless behavior, and that suited the teal-haired rogue just fine. Fishing for reactions from his (admittedly only) friend was one of his very favorite hobbies, after all... coming in only second to stirring up general chaos.
  
  "Escape is pointless," cried one of the more deranged looking occupants as he grasped desperately at Anghel's retreating figure, "the prince has the curse of the shadows! You'll be tortured to death by his vile magic!"
  
  Anghel looked to Fan with a confused shrug, not knowing or really caring what the obviously insane man was ranting on about. His gravelly voice echoed throughout the dungeon's mildewy depths as Anghel made his way up an unguarded stone stairway, pausing to listen and observe in silence every few steps. There was an undeniable difference between acting dumb and being dumb, after all. As much as it pained him, now wasn't the time for snarky banter.
  
  Once light began to flood in from the end of hall they were walking, Anghel paused to consider their situation. It was as he'd feared.
  
  "So, I have good news and bad news," he began, voice hushed as he fiddled with a strand of his hair, "good news is all the guards are caught up with Open Day for now. Bad news..." Anghel trailed off, knowing Fan would not be happy to hear what he was about to say. "Er, bad news is the only way to the access tower is through the huge room filled with Open Day peasants and the King."
  
  If he stuck to the edges of the crowd and was careful to observe his surroundings, Anghel was quite confident that despite his eye-grabbing appearance, he wouldn't be noticed amongst the mass of humanity. He only hoped Fan would agree, and wouldn't genuinely consider playing out her most recent threat.
  
  
  ━━━━━━❦━━━━━━​

  
  

  
  

  code by spookie ​
• 
  
  
  

  
  

  ^━lucien━​

  
  

  
  

  ━━━━━━❦━━━━━━
  ✧ mood – apathetic ✧ mentioned – sima, everyone in the throne room ✧ tags – Kent ✧
  —◦✧◦✧◦—
  
  Lucien could feel the judgement cast upon him from the man seated at his side, something which made the young guard captain stand a bit straighter as to maintain his statuesque and untouchable appearance. Intimidation was likely unnecessary. Surely no one would be stupid enough to attempt something here, in the presence of the King on Open Day of all things... no, that kind of idiocy wouldn't allow someone to pass childhood. Of that much, Lucien was certain.
  
  He did not feel pity for the many peasants and commoners who had their hopes crushed as he looked on in silence. They were asking for it, having such nerve to complain to the King... a man who couldn't even show kindness to his own son. To expect graciousness when one was a meaningless, ragged face in a crowd was pathetic. If there was one thing Lucien despised, it was blind optimism.
  
  His icy expression softened just a touch at the sight of his friend Sima, one of only two people he permitted to call him by his true name, an honor reserved for those who didn't look down on him as a freak or monster for bring born with the shadow 'gift'.
  
  Stepping away from the King with a hesitant glance, Lucien approached the elegant man with a face that, while not smiling, was notably less cold than usual.
  
  "Greetings," Lucien spoke quietly, as not to gather too much attention. Once out of range of the King, his words would flow more freely.
  
  
  ━━━━━━❦━━━━━━​

  
  

  
  

  code by spookie ​
  
  

 

[BittyBobcat]

Mentions: Sima( Kent ), Caspian( boo. ), Anghel & Lucien & Hope( spookie )

It took all of Liz's energy to not to ask Sima a million and two questions. How did he know Caspy? What did he paint? And, most importantly, who was he exactly? He was just so interesting! Curiously dressed, mysterious links to her friends... how could she not ask questions?!

But -in a terrific display of self control (at least, that's how she saw it)- she refrained from doing so. Besides, if she did something Caspian didn't approve of in the middle of the castle, Liz was pretty sure he would have an aneurysm.

"You're all ready for this, right?"

Liz nodded absentmindedly, remembering oh, right, she was right in front of the king. Well, not right in front of him -there was a person between them, after all- but he was right there. Positively mind boggling. The most important man for miles was sitting here about to listen to them. Not that she thought their mission wasn't important enough for the king's attention, only that she thought -no, she knew- that they were moments away from the adventure of a lifetime.

She was so distracted by the thought of it that she scarcely noticed a young man with purple hair approach their group and greet Sima. Liz turned her attention to him, forgetting -as she often did- that staring would perhaps be considered rude. A thousand more questions swirled into her mind (among them a wonder about whether Sima was well known among the castle or if he just knew everyone everywhere). And who was the boy he was talking to? He looked oddly familiar...

Her gaze wandered for a moment, and -in what was either a stroke of luck or an extreme misfortune- she spotted another familiar face. A man with unmistakable teal hair standing in a hallway. It was then that -in a flash of sudden realization- Liz remembered where she'd seen the boy talking to Sima before.

Should I say something? She cast a hurried glance back toward the boy. He was arresting him before... but maybe he got pardoned or something. That was impossible and she knew it. The king was far too busy at the moment to pardon a new prisoner. But how could he have escaped so fast?

Her eyes flickered between the two, and Liz began fidgeting even more than usual. Shuffling her feet, twisting the strip of yarn on her wrist, biting her nails. And even if he escaped, why is he still here? She didn't know the palace very well, but she was sure there must be ways out of the dungeons that didn't pass straight through the throne room. Liz bit her lip, but remained uncharacteristically quiet.

 

[InTheSea]

[class=bkgd] --main: #274f48; --accent: #86a8a1; --accent2: #ffffff; --words: #a3cd38; position: relative; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 320px; height: 400px; background-color: var(--main); border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 5px 5px 0px var(--accent); overflow: hidden; margin-bottom: 5px; cursor: url('https://i.imgur.com/eyUJ9gM.png'), auto; [/class] [class=pic] position: absolute; top: 42px; left: 65px; width: 200px; height: 200px; border-radius: 300px; background: url(https://i.imgur.com/n52Wtn4.png); background-size: 200%; background-position: 30% 10%; [/class] [class=picdecoration] position: absolute; top: 2px; left: 38px; width: 239px; height: 260px; background: url(https://imgur.com/XBe9pwi.png); background-size: 100%; [/class] [class=textcontainer] position: absolute; top: 20px; width: 300px; height: 325px; left: 25px; overflow: hidden; [/class] [class=text] position: relative; width: 280px; height: 320px; color: #ffffff; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; text-align: justify; overflow: auto; padding-right: 50px; [/class] [class=speak] font-weight:bold; color: var(--words); display:inline; [/class] [class=name] position: absolute; top: 260px; width: 100%; height: auto; color: var(--accent2); text-shadow: 1.5px 1.5px 0px var(--accent); text-align: center; font-size: 35px; line-height: 37px; text-transform: ; [/class] [class=tab1] position: absolute; top: 325px; left: 130px; width: 60px; height: 50px; background: url(https://i.imgur.com/GlZyJ7W.png); background-size: 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: white; animation: {post_id}shake 1s linear infinite; [/class] [class=tab2] position: absolute; top: 5px; left: 10px; width: 60px; height: 50px; font-size: 10px; color: var(--accent2); animation: {post_id}fade 3s linear infinite; [/class] [class name=tab2 state=hover] color: var(--accent); [/class] [class=stats] position: absolute; top: 350px; left: 10%; width: 80%; height: auto; color: var(--accent2); text-shadow: 0.5px 0.5px 0px var(--accent); text-align: center; font-size: 9px; text-transform: ; [/class] [class=credit] position: relative; overflow: hidden; width: 100%; height: 10px; text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 8px; color: #dedede; opacity: 0.25; [/class] [script class=tab on=click] hide tabsContent set currentTab (getText) if (eq ${currentTab} 1) (fadeIn 500 tabsContent1) if (eq ${currentTab} 2) (fadeIn 500 tabsContent2) [/script] [animation=shake] [keyframe=0]transform: rotate(3deg);[/keyframe] [keyframe=50]transform: rotate(-3deg);[/keyframe] [keyframe=100]transform: rotate(3deg);[/keyframe] [/animation] [animation=fade] [keyframe=0]opacity: 1;[/keyframe] [keyframe=10]opacity: 0.8;[/keyframe] [keyframe=20]opacity: 0.6;[/keyframe] [keyframe=30]opacity: 0.4;[/keyframe] [keyframe=40]opacity: 0.2;[/keyframe] [keyframe=50]opacity: 0.0;[/keyframe] [keyframe=50]opacity: 0.2;[/keyframe] [keyframe=70]opacity: 0.4;[/keyframe] [keyframe=80]opacity: 0.6;[/keyframe] [keyframe=90]opacity: 0.8;[/keyframe] [keyframe=100]opacity: 1;[/keyframe] [/animation] [div class=bkgd] [div class="pic tabsContent tabsContent1"][/div] [div class="picdecoration tabsContent tabsContent1"][/div] [div class="name tabsContent tabsContent1"]Evergreen[/div] [div class="tab1 tab tabsContent tabsContent1"]

2

[/div] [div class="tab2 tab tabsContent tabsContent2" style="display:none;"]

1

[/div] [div class="stats tabsContent tabsContent2" style="display:none;"]mood: anxious, appears positive | outfit: xxx | mentions: Hope & Lucien spookie , Omo _Line 213 | Interacting with: Hope and Omotholo [/div] [div class="textcontainer tabsContent tabsContent2" style="display:none;"][div class=text][div class=speak][/div] The ornately carved doors opened before them, and for a moment Ever felt her breath catch in her throat. This place was huge. The only problem was that it felt like a giant cage. A beautiful cage, but still a cage. She glanced at Hope out of the corner of her eye, then back through the entrance. People were exiting, and most of them looked downtrodden. She wondered what they asked for, wondered further if the king simply couldn't help them or just didn't give a damn. She prayed it was the former, but realized she didn't hope for much as so few of them looked victorious.

Guards ushered them inside, and anxiety gnawed at her insides. She really didn't want to get locked in this cage, but she equally couldn't let the rest of them go by themselves (even though she logically knew they had each other), but she made a promise to Hope, and she was going to keep that promise. And before long, they were moving inside.

She made it a point to ignore all the beautiful things inside, as looking at them only drew her ire. Each one looks magnificent enough to pay for the poor and hungry for months if not years, but no king she ever heard of would dispose of their things to ensure the livelihood of those living under them. Why would this king be any different? She glanced at her friend [Hope] again when he muttered something under his breath; she wondered what it was he said. He was likely living up to his namesake, and she couldn't resist a smile.

The line was much, much smaller now, and she could see before them the people they would be asking their humble request. One was obviously the king, and the other was a much more familiar face; the child guard who had been leading away that pirate-looking fellow. She resisted a snort as that encounter had been somewhat humorous at best. At least it made for a good conversation at the time. Now, well that was quite a different story.

This king was exactly the way she thought he would be. She kicked herself for jinxing them. A glittering crown of priceless make rested on his head and he had nearly perfect features that one would only get from having everything they could possibly want. And lo and behold, he looked like he didn't give a damn about anyone who was standing before him. Oh and what a surprise, the child guard looked as much the sourpuss as before. Were they seriously wearing the same, uninterested expression on their faces? She loathed the fact that she knew she immediately hated them simply because of what she had lost and to whom, but that did not stop her from praying to whatever gods would listen to her. She prated that this listless king would somehow care about them and what they wanted to do.

From besides her, she heard Hope taking in a deep breath. She glanced over at him again, and for a moment she worried he wasn't feeling too well, but soon enough he smiled his usual bright smile. [div class=speak]"I'm as ready as I'll ever be,"[/div] she smiled back at him.

Not really.

She didn't trust this king or the child guard. They likely would just laugh in their faces. Hope didn't deserve that. None of them deserved that. But when were kings ever fair. They didn't give a damn about her home and her people. And now look at her. She closed her eyes, reining in her feelings. She would be absolutely damned if her own expressions belied how she was feeling, especially to the very person they were trying to get help from. Her anger ebbing away, she willed herself to stay positive instead, or at least to look the part.

She kept her hand on Omotholo's shoulder, using him as a sort of emotional crutch. If she could comfort him, then she could comfort herself through him.

[/div][/div] [/div][div class=credit]code by sox[/div]

 

[BlossomingRosebud]

Amaya | In the King's Hall with the Orphan Band | Tagging: Hope ( spookie ), other orphans | Mentions: Evergreen, Liz, Anghel

Four hours. Four of them. That's how long they had been waiting. Amaya supposed, such was a wait time was to be expected, but still...

She felt that she might indeed lose her mind.

Well, such was the harsh reality of life. Amaya wasn't fond of waiting in this manner. She would rather be doing something with her time, and that was exactly the reason why she was forming a doll out of leaves of grass at this moment right now. It wasn't working out that well. But, a few hours ago, she had realized her dilemma, temporarily left the group, grabbed some grass, and then came back nice and silently so that no one would notice her gone. Or, maybe they did. Anyways, she figured grass would do in place of a corn husk so she went for it, ignoring any of the odd looks from random strangers she might receive. They could deal with it.

It didn't mean that the events around her weren't interesting though. One by one, she noticed the expressions on the faces of the people leaving the castle, the pieces of words the shared amongst themselves. A great many seemed disappointed. Amaya thought that by observing she might be able to guess them. What were their wishes? What was their expectation? Their resolve? But one thing was for sure...

The King was not Gramps. She realized this more-so coming into the castle hall. He was cold, unfeeling, sternness in his gaze. No, her suspicions were true; adults, for the most part, were not very kind. That was just the way it was. Still, it was fascinating. This was the man who ruled their land? She never thought she would be in a position to speak to him; or rather, be present while her companions spoke. Although...he wasn't quite as interesting as she might have hoped.

"You're all ready for this, right?"

Amaya's attention was startled away from the king's face when Hope spoke up. She looked back to her companions...(friends? She could never be sure)...and listened as Evergreen gave a hearty affirmation in turn. Amaya, relaxing a little, quirked a smile. "Well, this would be a bad time to not be ready, wouldn't it? Unless you're in the mood to go to the back of the line again and prepare?" she teased. Ah, preparation was for the weak, anyways. It's not like it would help them. They were probably in for disappointment either way, but might as well try, yes?

She breathed a sigh, looking around at the others, when she noticed Liz's fidgety, shocked expression. What was she...? Amaya followed her line of sight, and, well, Amaya was nothing if not observant. It was...it was that guy! The one with the ridiculous footwear! She craned her neck around Hope's face to look at him, peering her eyes into the distance. What was he doing here!? Wow, and just when they were almost at the line's front... "Well, that could be bad," Amaya stated cryptically, seeing no need for context whatsoever. Oh, joy of joys, this might get chaotic.

 

[spookie]

^━hope━​

━━━━━━❦━━━━━━
feat. Anghel
✧ mood – heartbroken ✧ mentioned – everyone ✧ tags – again, everyone ✧
—◦✧◦✧◦—

At last, the pair of ragged-looking adults before them were turned away. A husband and wife pair who had lost their curio shop to fire, denied the money they required to properly rebuild and told to make do with whatever scraps of insurance they'd already been given. Hope's hand curled into a fist, and his chest felt tighter than ever. It was beyond unfair for someone living in such luxury to turn down the requests of the needy. Even as optimistic as he usually was, the pale boy could find no good in such a situation.

"State your complaint and make it quick," the king demanded in a bored sort of voice, as though he was picking out footwear rather than the fate of another person's life.

"I–, no we, are here to request your aid in an unsolved missing person case..."

Though young and without a formal education, Hope's adoration of books allowed him to speak eloquently and he was able to get his point across in a fair and convincing manner, pausing occasionally so that his friends could join in if they so desired. "—and that is why despite how unlikely you are to accept our request, we couldn't give up on finding the only man who had ever seen us as his family."

Leaning forward a bit, the king raised one slender brow. "I see... this has been the most entertaining thing I've heard today by far, I'll give you that."

Silver eyes wide as he gazed upwards, Hope took a deep breath so he wouldn't faint. "So does that mean you'll grant it?"

To that, the king only huffed. "Please try to refrain from acting so ridiculously in my presence unless you are the court jester, children. Absolutely not."

For a second, Hope was certain his heart had quite literally shattered. He mumbled something incomprehensible to no one in particular before stumbling backwards into one of his friends, he wasn't really sure who, a shaking hand pressed over his mouth to stifle the violent coughing fit brought on by having his dreams so entirely crushed.

Evergreen. Liz. Omotholo. Amaya. Nao. Caspian. Demetriosa. Hope had failed them all.

The blood dribbling out from between his ashen fingers was nothing in comparison to his tears. "I'm sorry," he cried softly, "I'm so sorry, everyone... I let us all down."

Hope's little outburst had attracted a lot of attention, which of course lead the king to ordering them away at once. It also provided enough of a distraction for a certain man with sweeping turquoise hair to get closer to the group of orphans, his unbandaged eye focused unblinkingly on the odd compass worn around Hope's neck.


━━━━━━❦━━━━━━​

code by spookie ​

 

[BittyBobcat]

Interactions: Hope & The King( spookie )

Liz's attention was pulled away from the criminal as they finally found themselves in front of the king. She forced herself to stop fidgeting, having to physically grab her own hand in order to hold it back from scratching at her wrist. Of course, her foot still tapped nervously against the floor, but she was too distracted by the man before them to notice it.

Though she was sure the king would understand their plight (after all, that was always how life was supposed to work out, wasn't it? If you worked toward good, then good things happened to you... Right?), Liz breathed a silent sigh of relief when Hope stepped forward to do the talking. She broke in here or there, but it wasn't often, and it was never for very long. Only enough to emphasize something or clarify a point.

And, when the orphan's speech eventually came to a halt (the short silence that followed feeling horribly heavy), she looked to the king with hope in her eyes and Hope at her side. Liz was even willing to ignore the comment about their story being entertaining (though, it did shoot a twinge of annoyance down her spine). As far as she was concerned, the king could trivialize their lives as much as he wanted if it meant that they could finally begin the search.

"Absolutely not."

Those two words felt like getting run over by a horse, and -as the comparison came to mind- Liz felt something thump against her, as if someone were trying to make the heaviness in her chest a real weight against her. Numbly, she hugged Hope, his sobs wrenching fresh shards of hurt into her heart.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, everyone... I let us all down."

Her response came automatically and instantaneously, not waiting for her consent before it left her mouth. "No... No, Hope, you didn't let us down." She murmured softly, "Only one person let us down today." Liz growled, shooting the king a frosty glare and not quite finding it in herself to care if the subject of her gaze heard.

And then, after all that, the wretch had the nerve to throw them out of the throne room! Liz was by no means a violent woman, but if he wasn't the king, he would've been in an (admittedly, easy to win) fist fight right then. Liz found that she was quite happy she hadn't mentioned the criminal. She hoped he was stealing every last thing he could get his hands on in the palace.

 

[_Line 213]

Omotholo Okomokklo
Phaland Castle (Throne Room)
Interacting with: The Orphans
​

By the time they reached the front of the line, Omotholo was practically quivering, tensed to the point where, even if he wanted to (and he most certainly did not), he would have been wholly unable to answer Hope's question. He was, of course, not ready at all--though given his physical state, that was nothing if not apparent. The real question, rather, was exactly how his nervousness was due to be interpreted; the boy could only hope that the others would see him not as unbearably excited, but unbearably dreadful.

When the guardsmen beckoned them into the throne room, Omotholo felt as if he had died and left his body whilst already on the march to the gallows, the sheer prospect of a "yes" terrifying his heart to a horrid pace far more than the intimidating opulence amid which the royal family sat and stood. Even so, not a single unfamiliar eye found its way to him; it was if he was invisible to all but the orphans, a complete and forgotten afterthought unless interacted with by his fellows, only to submerge into the subconscious directly afterward anyway. Even so, it was little comfort; the boy could not help but feel as if every eye in the room had been fixated upon him anyway.

The king bade whomever amongst them was bold enough to speak (Hope, of course), and Omotholo held his breath, uncertain as to whether he was doing so to stave off the stress or simply find some novel way to lose consciousness. Hope's plea didn't even manage to make their way into the head; in that instance, for better or worse, Omotholo found that he could only hear the king's words clearly.

"I see... this has been the most entertaining thing I've heard today by far, I'll give you that."

Oh no.

"Please try to refrain from acting so ridiculously in my presence unless you are the court jester, children. Absolutely not."

Oh thank goodness. Omotholo's breath flew free as he practically deflated in supreme relief, thousands of tons lifted from his shoulders at such blinding speed that he may as well have flown up into the air right after them. Hope was crushed, indubitably so, but Omotholo was sure that he'd be over it in time. The others were already rushing to comfort him, and, despite the ringleader's worries, Omotholo hadn't been let down at all. If anything, this was one of the better outcomes, and he was more than ready to begin heading home.

In fact, so relieved was he, that he had already begun to turn to go as soon as the king bade for such, only to stop directly in his tracks as he took note of a certain, somewhat familiar odd head of hair.

His eyes widened; was someone staring at him? He quickly turned, following the man's gaze. No--he was looking just past him, focusing instead on Hope. Most people in the room seemed to be, at that moment, yet he was the only one approaching, and as the group knew from their earlier encounter, this man was no guardsman.

"Um...U-um--" he stammered looking frantically back and forth between the approaching man and his fellows, "I...I think we should leave! I think we should leave right now!"