[center][img] https://fontmeme.com/permalink/210131/53a200cc81a754fbfea32363291eca9d.png [/img][/center]
[indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=92278f][b]Location:[/b][/color] City Streets -- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color]
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Seele couldn’t help but gape a bit as Kazuki explained his situation. Some of it was predictable enough; she’d have wagered he was Queon, though she might have also guessed Sikth a day ago. But to own houses all over Aetheria? That had to have been some sort of feat. Not that she would have known, she’d been playing the part of a drifter the whole time she’d been playing Pariah. Perhaps Kazuki had simply applied himself to the project, he certainly seemed to be diligent enough. 

He mentioned Benkei again. He seemed to know a lot about their tank, and now she was hearing that they’d played together often, to the point that Benkei had Kazuki at his beck and call. She couldn’t imagine Kazuki waiting on most anyone like that. He’d even mentioned a [i]friend[/i]. 
[color=#2E2C2C]…[/color]
Before she could ask about it though, he pushed the subject back to her. Hm. Tricky. She was eager to learn more about her group, but for the moment, she thought it best to lean into whatever direction Kazuki steered their conversation. So, she stored those questions away for later.

Their pace wasn’t exceptionally fast—she hadn’t expected them to exactly sprint to Mystic Prophecy—so she didn’t feel too guilty about taking her time to answer.

[color=92278f]“Oh, Drox. I know, huge surprise right? A support in the support pathos, how scandalous! It’s nice, though. I was really into the pathos stuff when I first started. Did a bunch of reading up on all the lore, took a peek at some of the quests and region-specific areas. Thorinn was—is, I mean—really just beautiful, but so are all of the other places in their own ways. Almost went Tyhrien, if I’m being honest.”[/color] 

She twirled her parasol, considering for a moment what Kazuki had suggested about weaponizing it. She wouldn’t—though the idea of enhancing it into a backup focus was appealing for sure. Seele made a point not to carry weapons with her, it was part of the reason she [i]hadn’t[/i] gone Tyhrien. [u][i]“It is the duty of the hero to protect the helpless,”[/i][/u] sounded very nice on paper, but in practice she’d found the Tyhrien brand of protection often involved violence against the aggressors, which she simply wasn’t cut out for. And besides that, the longer she’d played, the more she realized the moniker “hero” didn’t apply to her. Seele didn’t want to be a hero, she wanted to be there for the people who did. 
[color=#2E2C2C]…[/color] 
[color=92278f]“Drox fit better,”[/color] she said with a shrug. [color=92278f]“And, you know it seems kind of silly to say, but I actually really sort of respected Erianda. All of the pathos leaders are compelling characters, I mean I thought the same thing about Itrius, but, I dunno, something about Erianda just drew me in. Made the decision easier.”[/color]

Soon enough they came upon Mystic Prophecy’s guildhall, which was surprisingly modest-looking for such a well-renowned group. Seele breezed up to the doors, only to hesitate. She turned back to Kazuki, donning sympathy once again in her smile. 

[color=92278f]“You’re doing the right thing,”[/color] she said again. [color=92278f]“I’m really proud of you. No matter what happens in there, have faith in yourself to handle it. You can.”[/color]

Then she knocked on the door and took a step behind Kazuki. She’d do her best to support him, but this was his trial to face, and the last thing she wanted to do was step over him and say something [i]he[/i] didn’t mean. In the end, all she could really do was hope everyone had calmed down enough to approach things with the intention of moving on.[/indent][/indent][/indent]