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Oassu smirked "Sure but guards might and I'll probably be expected to do some later on I imagine" he said grimacing "Won't all the lords for the ball be arriving throughout the day though? Would think that'd be some kind of event here" he said.

Gil agreed with the rest of the table on dessert wondering what Yuki had made "Well I'm not sure, Seph doesn't come across as the warmest person in the world, neither does Mari at times though you didn't really strike me as someone really into technology" he said with a smirk thinking Satoshi was just making excuses.

Itaka shook his head whistling to Chobi to follow as they set off again "I'm surprised you don't get more jobs to try an assassinate clan members, seems like the Dark Association would be the more aggressive faction there" he said rounding a hill.

Jeckhart followed Hebal's gaze to the sprites "It'd hardly be good for a stealth mission if you glowed like that, though you are plenty pretty already I'd be surprised if they weren't jealous of you" he said trying to cheer her up.

Zadina nodded "Yeah there's very few positive stories about ghosts out there, while most I hear will just get you lost like wisps there's some much darker stories out there about them" he said peering further out his window as the carriage began to slow "It seems we are approaching the manor" he said indicating a large clearing in the trees ahead that gave way onto a large garden with fountains flanking a narrow path that led down to a tall white mansion.

Felina shrugged "Oh sure I guess people will see a small parade of carriages in the central path but I wouldn't go as far as calling it a special event. I would rather celebrate with the locals than watch the carriages come through. Should give us both a nice little breather before having to mingle with the nobility. You wont find many guards doing anything beyond guarding when they arrive" she laughed stopping to watch one elf making dragon shapes out of balloons in front of a small audience of kids.

Satoshi paused "Hey I'll have you know I am very interested in their... tiny airships and stuff. And even Seph can turn as soft as warm butter when faced with chocobos so I am sure she would be the same with moogles and Mari has a right little assemble of small pets that she thinks look cute" she argued.

Yuki grinned picking up the empty plates "Well great. Hopefully you will like it. I picked it up when I went to Mineerin last week and was curious as to what it was like and thought I would be a bit different this year. It's something they call chocolate pudding and it sort of looked nice"

Amane took Zadina's hand then hopped down from the steps of the carriage and into the snow "Brrr its cold out here by comparison to in there. But wow your house is huge and makes mine look like a tiny little hut and you could easily get lost in here. Do I have to start calling you some fancy title while your here by the way?" she asked gazing up at the manor in awe.

Hebal cheered bouncing out the carriage and stretching once outside "This is definitely a place fit for a lord. If we're going to be staying here later, I hope you have something to keep us warm here like a sauna and lots of blankets at the ready and-" she suddenly came to a stop almost slipping over in her excitement.

"Hey careful there, we've only just got here and keep that up and you'll injure yourself and not be able to do anything today" Alpha chuckled keeping a hold on Hebal while she regained her balance. "Quite the nice little ride we had there" he added going back to help Mu climb down out the carriage

Seph nodded taking a look at the chocobos "Agreed, Chobi needs to settle down a little and Anabelle looks like she could do with a good rest having to try and keep up with a gold chocobo all day. How about we get inside, make something to eat. Give the others a good run then relax a little and perhaps have our own work out first" she suggested.

Oassu looked surprised as the balloons were thrust into his hand mumbling a small "Thank you" before Felina tugged him away where he handed her the balloons "I'm not sure Feli, I reckon any of your citizens will recognise you in your own city" he said uncertainly "Didn't think you minded your identity being known here" he said

Gil shrugged "I always found reading a language easier than speaking it but sure I suppose tonberries could have a kind of charm to them but they are just filled with so much hate, I always go for the quick kill against them if I can't avoid them entirely" he said.

Zadina shook his head "No of course not Amane it'd be weird if you started with that," he said stepping back from the carriage as further down the line the guard marched to a halt with the head guard and the carriage driver coming down to speak to him. "We'll be stopping here briefly, perhaps an hour at the most, your men are welcome to the kitchens where I'm sure the staff will cater for your every need but please be ready to leave in 45 minutes just to be safe" he instructed them before turning away to talk to the butler of the mansion who had come out to greet them.

Behind them Jeckhart stepped out of the carriage grimacing slightly as he stepped into the show before watching Zadina instruct his staff "It must be difficult being a lord at times, he's a very mature boy for his age to be dealing with all this stuff" he said

Itaka nodded "Sure I trust Boris will keep them in check, fiends don't really like to wander out of their hovels in the forest this time of year, they need to stay warm too after all most of them just do hibernation at this point" he said glad they had had such a peaceful journey as he marched Annabelle back into the farm.

Felina shrugged almost jumping out of her skin long with Cid who accidentally popped one of the balloon flowers upon investigating "I would rather the more common people pointed me out than having the nobles do so. They are much more critical and with the common people all you have to do really is smile and wave. Could perhaps also be a good chance for you to get some nice and easy publicity too. But please if anything inn particular takes your interest please say. I don't want to feel like I am taking over everything" she added stopping to allow a bunch of small kids to pet her rabbit.

Satoshi paused "Well actually its harder because you use completely different symbols to represent sounds. Speaking your language is basically learning to mimic the right sounds where as reading means translating the letters into our language to work out the right sounds. More like code breaking then reading. Or at least that's how I find it"

"You know I only ever saw a tonberry once on my own travels as a ninja. Though none of us knew what it was for tonberries are not native to this contry and we weren't experienced ninjas and had to learn about them the hard way. Their cute exterior is probably just there to lower the guards of enemies and victims" Yuudai guessed with a shudder.

Amane gasped frozen for a moment staring at the marble pathway before eventually turning and following Zadina inside "Ok if you say so Zadina though I should hope nobody would give me bother.... this is defiately a big place... I could get lost in hear for days and that's just from exploring all the visible doors. And whos the big statue of in the middle of the hall? One of your ancestors?" she asked not quite sure where to look "You will have to give me the grand tour tomorrow morning"

"So how about we go shopping together and we can keep each other right on what would look good for the party later. And shopping is always more fun when you go with a group of friends anyway" Hebal brightly suggested hopping inside. "Pheeew this place must have taken years to build"

"It looks good" Alpha nodded making a mental note to be careful not to knock anything over in his demon form since there appeared to be some small areas full of clutter and expensive looking ornaments.

Mu nodded her head in agreement "Well if this is what noblemen get, hard to imagine what the palace will be like. But still a big place like this, as lovely as the shiny things are must be incredibly lonely and a little bit spooky at night when nobody is about"

Seph yawned soon copied by Chobi upon her dismount "Yeah lets get in the stables and get looking after the other ones out the way and if we're unlucky might need to do some mucking out also. So how about we get the work out the way before play time and present time. I have something real nice for you waiting to be opened" she winked at him.

Oassu raised his eyes surprised at the dancing chocobo "Well that's something special, bet Chobi would love to join in that, chocobos meant to be pretty rare around here too from what you've told me but speaking of Hayate...didn't he invite us to lunch at his or something at his house? That could be a good place for us to escape to later on" he snickered

Gil chuckled "Sure though you've seemed to do fine on your own so far" he said petting Enkidu who continued to express disinterest in Aelo "I doubt I'd need to teach you much but yeah I know a few languages just not too much of this areas, some of Mari's country I know a bit of, you pick it up when you fight there for a while or at least the important things like 'flanking' or 'arrows incoming'." he said


Zadina smiled happy to see Amane so pleased with his home "Yes Amane that's one of my ancestors Lord Quina Loweena, the Loweena family has always been an elven family renowned for it's pursuit of excellence particularly on the battlefield, Quina Loweena was an exceedingly powerful Red mage who was also a master swordsman too with a fencing foil, he fought well in the great battle of Tamin valley during the demon wars and so the King built a family in recognition of his efforts, he was also apparently quite a gourmand too" he giggled pointing out his ancestor's shapely belly. "Though we elves have plenty of time to build things Miss Hebal but please make yourselves at home" he said happily before turning to see a tall thin butler who emerged from a room on the right side of the foyer.

"It's a pleasure to see you again Tremley" he said brightly to the butler who smiled quietly and replied "And you too Lord Loweena, it's an honour to have a Loweena back in the manor even if it's for a short while, there's only so much excitement to be had in cleaning the rooms after a few years" he replied with another bow "May I take you and your guest's coats? Or would they like anything fetched for them from the kitchens?" he asked them all in turn.

Zadina nodded unclicking his own cloak for Tremley to take "I would quite like a warm hot chocolate considering the weather if that's ok Tremley thank you" he said whispering something else in elvish before returning to the others.

Jeckhart handed over his heavy coat cautiously "Erm a glass of water is fine thank you" he said "I doubt it'd be that spooky Mu, a house this size must have quite the array of servants to tend to it" he said thinking he'd spied a few young eyes peering down from behind the bannisters on the stairwell.

Itaka grinned "Well I can't wait to see that" he said leading the chocobos back into the stables where they were greeted with a cacophony of "Kweh!" and "Wark" by the chocobos. "Right right I know it's been a lazy day but we'll get you out a bit" he said taking Chobi's reins from Seph "Just go back out and shut the gate and I'll let the other chocobos out" he said locking Annabelle in who quietly kwehed a greeting to the others before lying down in the pen "In the snow and wind Chobi and Annabelle must have tired quickly" he muttered "While they are out getting some exercise we'll put out food and do any mucking out if we have to" he sighed "Normally the staff would do that sorta thing but privacy is important I guess" he said putting his arms around Seph for a kiss and a cuddle.

Felina smiled taking a few steps back to take another look at the dancing Chocobo "Clearly a travelling elf, one only has to look at him to know he is not from the Yithra area but you are right, it is a good thing Chobi isn't here or else she would be making a scene jumping about trying to copy" she giggled unable to stop herself tapping her feet to the tune. "I think its a bit late to show up for lunch at Hayate's now. Plus I would feel a little bad showing up when I know his family will be showing up to spend time with him for the first time in a good while"

Satoshi rolled her eyes not convinced "Well that's not really learning much of the language, not really a practical amount which you can use to meet people. Maybe next time I should teach you hello and how to ask for directions for I know how to speak Mari's language almost as well as I can speak Agralian. Oh and did you know, I started picking up a little bit of elven from travelling around with the group without even trying" she proudly stated.