[center][URL=http://s201.photobucket.com/user/Chii_Fureya/media/906ee3cd-4ada-4850-82ad-950eb7df7145.jpg.html][IMG]http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa254/Chii_Fureya/906ee3cd-4ada-4850-82ad-950eb7df7145.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Cerise continued to listen to what Lukas had to say with a stoic look on her face. She had heard stories of the Shadowlands and the Immortal Nine from her mother as a child, but always considered them fairytale-like, not something that would ever affect her life in such a real way. Lukas made it clear that the group would have to rely on each others skills to survive, but Cerise doubted how useful she could be in battle. She had only held a sword once or twice before, and she wondered how well she would be able to use her magic under pressure. She sighed deeply, concerned with her usefulness to the group. She was always very confident in her job, but this was nothing like what she had spent the past six years training to do.

When Lukas addressed her directly and praised her talents and favor in the eyes of the Empress, she felt her cheeks warm. She imagined that they were a similar shade of red as her hair by the time he was done speaking about her. She lowered her head in embarrassment and turned just her eyes up towards Lukas, as not to be rude.

"Thank you for your kind words, sir."

She said quietly before he continued. 

As he continued, the flush in her face faded, and soon turned pale. Traveling the kingdom? Destroying artifacts? Fighting terrible beasts? This was certainly not what she was expecting. But she had already committed herself to the cause, and she wasn't about to back down now. She tried to look at is as a chance to finally travel outside of Kathar. Since she had moved here six years ago, she had rarely left the Palace gates, let alone the city. The only other place she knew was Ronin, and the blur of forests and grasslands that she traveled with the soldiers between the two cities. She never imagined she would get the opportunity to leave Kathar again. She found herself nodding in acceptance of this challenge. Her life was pretty boring here, so she came to the conclusion that it would be better to die traveling and fighting for her kingdom than stay and wait for the Palace walls to come crumbling down.

"So, when do we leave?"

Cerise inquired, her voice sounding a lot more confident than she felt.[/center]