As Sneaky as a Blunderbuss [Oura/Open]

[Sophia Lock]

take a deep breath, suck the water in my chest

and cross my fingers, then hope for the best

This was trouble some, no an outrage! No! It was a crime to the very establishment of knowledge that humanity had spent centuries cultivating, a cardinal sin no less! These Alexandrian's didn't let Sophia into the Royal library housed within the Castle. So for the first time in her life, Sophia was actually made. Fuming even. It was all because of her nationality, no less. She was a citizen of Archades, and even worked from the government. As a librarian of course. She could understand the kingdom's natural distrust of any citizen of Archades, but she wasn't even native to the Empire. She simply settled down there a few months ago, and not remembering where she came from became a citizen.

If only Queen Garnet didn't get assassinated in Archades, or these guards could have a better understanding of the higher pursuit of knowledge. Gah! if only the precious library was not in the castle. She could feel her knees tremble in pure ecstasy as she thought of book upon book housed within in it's sacred halls. It was so exciting! She had to find a way into the library, even more so due to the fact that it was forbidden to her. Which made it all the sweeter.

So as she walked down the main street of Alexandria she toiled on how to get in. A catapult was the first thing to come to mind. She could easily launch herself across that awful moat, only so awful because Sophia never learned how to swim. Yet there was a few problems. If she hit that stone wall, or stone walkway for that matter, almost all of the bones would shatter judging from the velocity she would need to launch herself across the moat. Wait! What if she casted protect on herself? Yes! She could see it, launching herself across the moat. Her cocoon of magic glistening in the sun as she shouted out freedom at last! Wait... That was far to obvious! The guards would obviously notice her.

Then she hit another speed bump. She didn't have a catapult either, and where the heck would she get such a machine inside of the walled city of Alexandria? Obviously they would not let a war machine among their streets. In frustration the bibliophile grabbed the side of her head, and shook her head back and forth. Oh how this hurt her brain! If they just let her in she could be reading by now! Damn you poltiical tension! She shouted out.

Wait... She had an idea! Those arbiters, the very same ones she read about in the vast libraries of Archades would be a solution! And anyone could have one, provided that they proved their worth. There was surely such a person to be found in Alexandria, and surely with their mighty arbiter they would have a solution to her dilemma! It was then that Sophai decided on her next course of action, to go to the most dangerous tavern in all of Alexandria! Surely it would have tough warriors, and one likely to have an arbiter.

It was then that she skipped through the entrance of what Sophia thought was the seediest bar in all of Alexandria. In reality it was the vastly popular one on the main road, far from seedy. Very very far from it. It was then that she leaped onto one a recently deserted table, sending the remnants of the last people to occupy it crashing to the ground. Which only caused the bar keep to scrunch their face up in anger. She proudly, and dramatically pointed a finger up in the air before announcing, "Attention! Does anyon- WAH!" The she lost her balanced, which caused her to tumble to the ground taking the large wooden table and the last few glass cups on it with her. With a loud CRASH she landed, a rough landing too as she somehow managed to land on the back of her neck. The table crashed into pieces, sending debris of the former table scattering all over her and the floor.

With a groan of pain she rolled about a bit, before finally she managed to stand. Her arms waved about at her sides as she stumbled about, desperately trying to find some sort of balance but horribly falling. "I'm.. I'm alright... Really." She managed to say, it was clear that she was not. She tried calling up her magics, but she could not. After a few seconds of angry sound grunts and hurrrrrrrr she finally gave up. "Okay, I'm not." Sophia said before falling on her rump. By now the tavern master was angrily walking over too her, obviously upset about his broken table. Sophia looked up at him, her eyes wide in some sort of emotion even she was unable to register at the moment. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea....

[Ouranus Nova]

Though it was strange for the soldiers to see Ouranus around the castle, they came to see her as a regular placement whenever she acquires new information or trying to determine what was going on. She seemed to be somber as she listened from around the various soldiers talking about how Garnet had died in Archades. She didn't want to imagine that Garnet was truly dead, if anything she had hoped that something made it look like it was a ruse. But one thing is clear: though it did shake her to the core, she didn't show it. Though Beatrix was no where to be seen, she had thought what would she or her mother would do. She would still carry on and be sure to help as many of the people of her kingdom as possible. For now it was important to keep things going and not stop until things can be explained in detail.

Stepping lightly she found herself in the bar. She had usually found this place much more peaceful than anything since she could read the chronicles of Abadon in the castle in relative peace. She took solace in reading the stories to help find a meaning and what to do next. At least until she raised her head and saw the girl. At first she didn't make much of it until she heard a loud crash and saw her now on the ground in the remains of both cup and table. She stood between her and the bartender as she spoke with a clear voice. "Come on now, there's no need for violence. I'm sure she is able to help pay for the damages to both the table and your cups." Ouranus worked on her diplomacy to help keep the situation from getting out of hand.

[Sophia Lock]

take a deep breath, suck the water in my chest

and cross my fingers, then hope for the best

A little sigh escaped Sophia's lips. Oh, she had done it again. People always told her to be more careful, and not to stand on tables. Even she managed to tell Sophia not to do something stupid, and make a fool of herself in public. Especially the tabling standing bit, of course she wasn't here now to give that odd look she gave Sophia. She would never be there again for her...

Another sigh as Sophia rose to her feet, brushing off the debris from her long coat. "Ah yes, I apologize for my behavior. I shall repay you forthwith!" Sophia said, in her usually happy and cheerful tone. She seemed almost oblivious to the man's anger, but that was her way. She wanted her happy ending, and she needed to be happy to get it. So her hands dove into the many pockets of her tan trench coat, looking for her little bag of gil. "No.. This isn't the right one." She muttered after emptying a few pockets.

An unbelievable amount of books spilled from her pockets, which seemed to be almost empty seconds ago. They were followed by note pads, and loose pieces of paper. The occasional note scribbled here and there. Pens and pencils, were together with little wrapped up sweets. Morsels that Sophia decided to save for later about a decade ago, still somehow preserved in the magics of her coat pockets. It was astounding on how much she was able to put in her coat pockets, she wasn't even a quarter of the way through the jacket when she found a money bag. Probably one of many she had forgotten about in her coat.

With a smile she placed the bag in the bar keeps hands, who seemed to have no problem with being paid for the damages. Sophia then began to returning everything into her coat, putting the books and sweets into random pockets. She was never one for order, and how she kept her own coat proved that one it's own. The bar keep watched her in shock as she manged to shove every last object back into her coat, which by now seemed like some sort of magical device to most people in the bar.

A bright and wide smile was on Sophia's face. "Please, keep the change. I insist after the trouble I put you through." She said with a gently wave of her hand. A kind, and peaceful gesture instead of the dismissive one it tended to be. It was then that the bibliophile turned to her savior, as the barkeep started to carefully inspect the gil Sophia handed over. "Thank you for your assistance, if it was not for your intervention, I am afraid that I was doom-"

The bibliophile was cut off by the roaring voice of the bar keep. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" He screamed, throwing the gil upon the floor. each coin had the mark of Archades. Which meant the gil was minted in Archades, which would lead most to believe that Sophia herself was from the Empire that recently stole the life of Alexandria's Queen. Yet a look of confusion spread on Sophia's face, not understanding the situation. "YOU SCUM! YOU KILL OUR QUEEN THEN COME HERE TO INSULT US?" The tavern master went on, his rage only climbing to new heights. Sophia didn't understand it at all. She wasn't from Archades, she simply made her home there a few months ago. This was all very confusing to her, and if someone didn't do something soon then it would be as deadly as it was confusing.

[Ouranus Nova]

"Perhaps she is an explorer..."

Ouranus watched as she seemed to be rummaging around in her pockets to get some money to pay for the damages. At the very least it seemed that she had been working on some degree of diplomacy. As the silver haired girl was going to say something, it seemed that the room was about to explode. She picked up one of the coins as she took out one of her own for comparison. Her golden eyes started to dart back and forth, noting the stark differences between the two coins. But as she watched the coins, she could hear the rage in his voice and the chances of him mounting the girl's head on a spike started to increase. But as she looked at the girl, Ouranus knew that she didn't know anything what was going on. That was the downside of being an explorer: sometimes you are too late when big events happen and you are on the other side of the world.

None the less she went to the girl's aid. She stepped between them now and though she lacked the size of the man her shadow seemed to cover behind him. Her spirit was something much more serious as she could hear Aggelos' voice telling her to stop the fight with words and not with fists. But above all else, do not throw the first punch against him. "Stand down, it is clear that she doesn't know what is going on." She then turned to look at the girl with the glasses, her golden eyes showing a serious expression as she spoke. "I'm guessing you have quite a collection of gil. Don't tell me, you're an explorer as well?" As she said that, she took a piece of gil out of her own pocket and showed it to her and the tavern master. It wasn't from Alexandria and it definitely not from Archades. Rather it was gil from Midgar that she had acquired during one of her travels. "I am sure it was a slip of the tongue so to speak, and it is clear she needs more information about the situation." Her gaze narrowed as she spoke again. "The Mist feeds on emotion, do not forget about that. I have seen too many people get angry enough to be driven insane."