The inn keeper shyed away. He was but an old man and this random fellow came in all insane, feral almost.

"Goodgod." He muttered quickly and feebly. "That man..." He didn't bother to finish his sentence and instead guled and went into the back room.

Leo facepalmed and stood there quietly before finally saying something.

"First impessions are important."
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Eton put his hand on his hip and smiled.

"She's something else." He muttered happily and followed after.
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"Rana, she said hi, arn't you going to be sociable?" He asked him. "You need to try and do it every now and then you know. It's not polite to not respond." He stood there and crossed his arms.

OOC: I'm going to accentuation Adélaïde's accent by spelling things as they should be pronounced. Hopefully you'll still understand what she's saying. Just imagine a French woman saying it.

"Zen monsieur Lex made zee greatest entrance dans le monde!" Adélaïde stood there with a gleeful expression on her face. She then turned to Violet. "Shall we see if zere is a bass while seigneur Leon pays for zee rooms?" Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed her hand and led her down a hallway.

"Hmmm," Rana sighed. He looked down at his hands, which were quivering slightly. "I... I need to tell you that we should leave here. Right away." He looked up and met Tekun's eye. "This place isn't right. Too many things have happened." He coughed lightly. Rana didn't often speak this much. "I'm leaving with Tania shortly. If you all don't come you'll not have my magic and you'll essentially be doomed. Rana brushed a lock of hair from his eyes, thinking of things to say without mentioning the strange man from before. The seer who thought he was omniscient.

Anna stared at Rana in a new light, before he seemed cold and distant, especially since he had those dark powers from the nether realms, but now she could see that he cared deeply about Tania. He was willing to leave the group which she had no idea what they had gone through or how long they had been together, but it seemed that he was determined to make sure that Tania was safe. She stared at the shiny wooden floor and scuffed her foot on it, contemplating Tekun's offer once again, they all for the most part seemed like good friends, something which she had not been given the chance to experience while in the church. She decided right then and there that she would help them on whatever quest they were on, and would pack once they had left the room. Despite all the happy feelings of finally making friends she felt an underlying feeling emanating from Rana.

----

Violet blinked vacantly, sometimes Lex could be quite disturbing yet it seemed that Adélaïde had grown to love the lunatic so maybe she would too. She wasn't aware of what was going on but suddenly felt Adélaïde's hand grasp her arm and drag her down a hallway. Where it lead, or why she was being taken as well she had no idea but she knew she would eventually find out.

----

Tania got up from the garden bench and re-entered the inn, her shoes clacking on the wooden floors as she walked through the halls. She stopped at the main counter where the innkeeper usually stayed and leaned on the counter. "Excuse me" she said politely while sliding a carefully sealed letter towards the innkeeper. "Could you perhaps make sure this gets to the man who this is addressed to?"

Adélaïde gently dragged Violet forward until they reached a sign that read "Bath" hung neatly on the door. She let go and pushed it open. The room was mildly large, but quaint. The walls were a deep amber wood and the tiles prevented water from leaking through the floorboards. A roughly set tub was sitting against the far wall, filled with steaming water. The filtration system used to cycle the liquid cleansed and the reheated the water constantly. It was ahead of it's time, yet run on the very steam that the bath created.

"Génie!" Adélaïde exclaimed, hurriedly running into the bathroom. "Come, Violet! We shall scrub zee dirt from our souls and backs!" With that, she began to undress.

Violet looked at the water suspiciously, she was worried that it might be some sort trap again, not that she didn't trust Adélaïde, she just no longer trusted inns after her first excursion, and she knew it would be a long time until she was able to let go of the experience. Despite her early misgivings, she went to the washroom and tentatively slipped out of her clothing looking around every so often believing that Lex had somehow gotten into the change room. She hurriedly left the room with her arms wrapped around her body, she looked again at the steaming water before stepping into it until the warm water reached her neck. She wasn't accustomed to staying in unnatural pools of water but it was still water so she was able to relax.

"Se magnifique!" Adélaïde was stripped bare as she stepped into the bath with Violet. Her voluptuous figure was a bit daunting, Violet being much smaller in size. Her face held a gleeful expression, masking any insecurities she may have had about bathing with someone else. The water level rose a bit as she gently sat down next to her pupil. "Aahhh.... zere is nozing better zan relaxing wis my favori étudiant..." She wrapped one arm around Violet and pulled her closer. "So... if you are to study undernees me, I would know of your past and knowledge of zee musical arts. Tell me." She stared into her eyes. Apparently, the French didn't mind being uncomfortably close to someone else.

Violet had no time to protest as the strong French woman pulled her towards her body so that she was uncomfortably close to the woman. She decided if she had any hope of getting out the woman's grasp and back to relaxing in the water she would have to tell her story. "Well" she began while lowering herself in the warm water "I was raised by my brothers and sisters" she glanced sideways at the woman not wanting to mention that what she believed to be her family was the wind "They taught me how to sing and the magic of music...they were always busy elsewhere...but they always knew where to find me...But it was travelling bards who taught me the basics of bardic magic and how to play the lute and lots of other instruments...but I love my lute and flute the most." She sighed, she never really liked talking about her background.

Leon watched the old man return from the back room after wiping the sweat from his brow and returning to the front.

"We're staying for free. Or the crazy one will have a chat with you." He grinned wickedly. The old man nodded franticly yes and backed away. "Good, we understand each other." With that he turned around and followed after Violet and Adélaïde. He knocked on the door and shouted. "Took care of the payment. If you need me i'll be in the room, to find it, just ask oldy up front. With that he turned around and went to head to the front desk again.
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"No problem." Tekun said. "We'll leave soon, don't worry. I'm sure once we get to the mainland, there will be far less s***."

Adélaïde nodded to the door, even though it was completely apparent that Leon would not recieve it. She turned back to Violet and stroked her hair. "Please continue."

______________________________________________________________________________________________


Lex emerged from the room he had entered and strolled up to Leon. "I couldn't tell if that was a closet or an infirmary... nonetheless, it was quite refreshing! Say, where did our mistresses of pain depart to?" He jump onto Leon's shoulders and began to scan the area. Lex's boot had mysteriously disappeared and he stood upon the gruff man's armor in woolen socks.

Violet blinked vacantly before continuing on. "Well one day when my brothers and sisters were away I decided that I was going to leave home...since they always got to. It was on the road that I learned the Morale and Trick songs" she looked down at her reflection in the water "I've always hoped that I'd be able to find him again...So I could learn some new songs, but through all my travels...nothing. Anyways" she said with a lighter tone "I met lots of people, sometimes played with my brothers and sisters if they managed to find me and just live my life just like my brothers and sisters. Free." she smiled at Adélaïde and ducked into the water, swimming to a more comfortable area in the tub. Popping up once again a few centimetres from the woman's arms.

"I see. But who were you searching for?" Adélaïde continued to stare at her intensely. The gaze was a bit unnerving, yet it gave off a warm sensation. It wasn't the water, either.

OOC: Well I was waiting for everyone else to move on but...alright then...

Violet c*** her head to the side and thought for a moment "Just a teacher" she said "Someone who would take me under their wings and teach me all there was to being a bard and then maybe just maybe one day I'd become a master of the spellsongs as well as other spells like some of the masters." she turned to look at Adélaïde "Like you" she nodded as if agreeing to her own statement.

There was a loud rumbling sound in the distance, the ground shaking every so often, almost consistent, almost like a giant creature walking about somewhere nearby. Leon looked around for a moment and continued on his way, wondering what the hell that could be.

Adélaïde's expression became stern. "I do hope you 'ave readied. Zis will not be an easy course for you. Your arms are lanky and your voice is hard. To truly master zee arts, you must cast away all possessions but your instrument. Since it is a part of you, I do not expect to see it leave your side, sitôt." Her voice was startlingly rigid. The only time she had ever spoken to Violet in that manner was back at the old inn. A strange, inharmonious rasping, but nonetheless to the point.

____________________________________________________________________________________________


Lex jumped down off of Leon's shoulders and put his ear to the floor. He studied the low rumbling as an archeologist would an ancient piece of pottery.

"I can hear it, again..." He was either referring to the noise he had heard back at the inn or was just being insane, once more. The latter was more likely, but the rumbling was definitely apparent, this time.