Tempestad de Arena [Figaro Castle, Edgar)

[Beebee]

Edgar expected more confusion on Paloma's part, but the pure hysteria that gripped her (and him subsequently) had floored him completely. He hadn't thought about anything like that. Then again, if she only just became aware of the Merge, then maybe she had a point. Putting his larger hand over hers that gripped his arm, he gave it a reassuring squeeze. "It is possible that he was sent elsewhere. But even so, from what you've told me he is a smart boy. I'm sure he will find a way to get somewhere familiar. All he needs to do is talk to the locals and they will point him in the right direction." Of course, if he was hurt and wasn't able to get to a town or talk to people, that was a whole other story. But he wasn't going to voice that concern. "I highly doubt he would have simply disappeared. We will find him, Paloma."

She seemed embarrassed about her outburst, and Edgar offered her a smile in response to her apology. "It's alright. Perfectly understandable." He allowed her to get herself back into control. "Rabanastre first, then. If he is not there, we can go to the next town, and the next." His heart went out to the distraught mother, and the idea of having children of his own struck him. He was a little old to start having children, but his advisors had been keen on him producing an heir for the last couple of years. Is this what I want? Pure panic if something were to happen? He had wanted to have children, but simply hadn't found the right woman to be his queen.

Shaking himself out of his selfish thoughts, he returned her smile with a wider one of his own. Offering her his arm, he gestured for them to leave the room. "Once you have studied the map, we can determine our route. A handful of soldiers will accompany us..." He nearly growled at the thought of the Chancellor forcing him to have an entourage. He could take care of himself. "...but it will be a small group that can move quickly." With that in mind, they pair made their way to meet the Chancellor.

[Al-Cid, Rakesh, Paloma, Mateo]

In the short time that followed, Paloma was introduced to the Chancellor. As Edgar has said, the elderly man was indeed very protective of his work. It was nearly to the point where he was reluctant to have his map manhandled by a complete stranger. But, it was with Paloma’s assurance that she would handle it carefully--and Edgar’s affirmation that, yes, this was very much a pressing matter--that the woman was finally allowed access to the map. With this matter taken care of, Edgar then left Paloma with the Chancellor’s company, whilst he, himself, quit the conference room and return to his kingly duties. Once the king had parted, both Paloma and the Chancellor, with careful handling, spread the map across the conference room table so that she may thoroughly study its contents.

The land depicted thereon was comprised of a rather sizable continent. Its northern and southern latitudes distanced across an area twice that of its furthest eastern and western longitudes. From what she could discern from the map’s topographic markings, the desert in which she now found herself only encompassed the continent’s northeastern corner. The rest of the continent constituted a variety of terrain: forests, marshes, mountains, and caverns. Several small lakes and rivers could also be discerned, with the largest laying quite a stretch to the south. Of the kingdoms, cities, and villages named, only two she could recognize: Rabanastre due south, and Jahara due west. In terms of territory and landmarks, to the north, she saw demarcation that resembled the Cerobi Steppe. To the south, the map noted the presence of a sandsea in which an abundance of strange machinery could be found, but which was not name. “Nam-Yensa, mayhap...” Paloma murmured as she returned to studying the locals, focusing her attention to those within a radius surrounding Figaro.

It looked like both Jahara and Rabanastre were equidistant to Figaro. Locales marked as being closer than either of those were the Gold Saucer to the southwest, Karnak to the north, and a pyramid to the west. Paloma dismissed the pyramid as anywhere likely he would run, but it might be good to check it out, regardless. The furthest of nearby villages was Kaipo to the east, and a Deling City just southwest of Jahara. To the far south, an ancient library was marked.

Upon seeing the scope of the area that would need exploring, Paloma sighed and her shoulders sagged. It looked like they had quite a bit of ground to cover. Perhaps, she could cut down on the number of locations to visit by dividing the search teams. Edgar’s men were looking for Mateo around the local area, so Figaro was covered, should he show up within the immediate vicinity. That freed up her men... well, Griogair, since he sustained the least of injury...to cover more ground by aiding in the search of nearby towns. She would send Griogair westward toward the pyramid, Jahara, and Deling City. In the meantime, she would join Edgar in the south, toward the Gold Saucer, Rabanastre, and the Library. That just left Karnak and Kaipo. Paloma wondered if the king could spare sending a scout to each of those towns, since both were in directions opposite to that which her party and Griogair would be traveling. She asked the Chancellor as much, and was told that it could be arranged.

Plan set in mind, Paloma thanked the Chancellor for this time, and adjourned from the conference room. Afterward, she sought out Griogair.

---

Later that night, Paloma could not sleep. For hours, she saw away in her infirmary bed, worried about her son’s whereabouts and health. Would they be able to find him? If he was out there, braving the wild, was he able to find warmth during desert’s colder night? She doubted he would have been wearing any of his outerwear--Mateo often complained about the heat, and was prone to run about in nothing but his short pants. He didn’t particularly like shoes either, and was oft barefoot when he could get away with it. It was at such times that Paloma would wonder if there was something, other than a less-than-modest sense of fashion, behind the viera people’s penitent toward revealing attire.

It was during her worried thoughts, that Paloma eventually found herself away from the infirmary, and outside the castle, wandering the grounds where her ship had been laid to rest. Little attention was paid to the guards as she passed them. She approached her grounded airship, and then after stepping through the open portal--the door missing and yet to be found--she made her way toward son’s quarters. Wearily, she sat on the edge of his small bed, and there remained in the near darkness as she gazed about the room. His toys were littered across the floor, though likely not due to the crash.

Some were from when he was younger, like his stuffed chocobo which had lost its left foot during an unfortunate encounter with a dog. Rather than asking for a new toy, Mateo had simply affixed a stick to the stuffed bird in place of its missing leg, after which he had proudly declared, “Look, Mummy! Now he makes a right proper pirate!”

Some of the toys were more recent, like the pocket watch that he had found on the shelves of a quaint little curio shop located in Upper Archades. He had really liked that watch for all its shiny gold gears and cogs and the tickity-tok it made with each passing second. He practically carried the thing everywhere with him. It was same pocket watch that she now noticed, discarded on the floor of his room.

She stood from the bed, and made the few short steps over to the pocket watch. It had fallen alongside his little deak. She kneeled to pick it up, grunting briefly as the movement caused a pain to sit in her inured ribs. Her hand went to her side, and there it pressed for a moment as she inhaled through her teeth, willing the pain to subside. When feeling passed, she exhaled and moved again to retrieve the watch. Once in hand, Paloma returned to the small bed. She sat against the headboard, resting with her back to the wall. There she remains as he turned the watch over in her hands, running her fingers over the little nicks and dents it had sustain. She would need to have repaired made, she noted to herself as she pressed the little switch that allowed the watch to open. She noticed that it was no longer ticking, and after looking at the face, she vaguely that it had stopped at 10:15. After closing the lid with a click, Paloma leaned her head against the wall,. She then closed her eyes as she released a heavy hearted sigh.

It was here, within that familiarity of the airship, that sleep finally found Paloma; although, that sleep would not be a restful one.

[Beebee]

As the pair walked through the magnificent halls, Edgar wondered how his Chancellor would treat their guest. He knew the man meant well, but sometimes he was just so overbearing. Entering the conference room, he had the elder man bring the map closer for inspection. He was hesitant, but after a stern word from his king, the man did as he was bid. Once he was sure the situation had been taken care of, he bowed once more to Paloma before excusing himself. There was a delegate from South Figaro waiting for him in the throne room that he had already kept waiting for far too long.

"I apologize for the delay. Thank you for waiting." he said politely as he swept into the room. The South Figarian dipped into a hasty bow and Edgar had to force himself not to roll his eyes. I was the one late. "I have a favour to ask of you." he said bluntly as he placed himself on his throne. The man before him was baffled as his king asked for his help. "I need you to do a survey of the town. Check for any newcomers, which I'm sure there are. If there are any new children present, I would ask that you send word to me immediately. One of our guests has lost her son."

The man blinked in confusion, before nodding slowly. "I...can do that, your Majesty."

"Great!" Edgar clapped his hands together and stood from his throne. That was quick! "I appreciate the help." he said with a smile as he came to stand in front of his citizen, who quickly dropped to another ridiculous bow. Standing patiently, he eventually dismissed the man who refused to rise from his bent form. The man quickly scurried away, and Edgar let out a relieved breath. It was honestly exhausting being a king sometimes. He just wished he could be himself.

Not wanting to bother Paloma while she was doing her research, and trying to avoid his Chancellor when at all possible, he instead went to one of the basements to work on a new invention of his. He got so busy that time flew by, and before he knew it it was nighttime. They would need to get an early start in the morning. I can finish this later. I should get some rest while I can.

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The next morning he awoke to the blackness. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he got out of bed and went to his window. The sun was just starting to peek out. I should get ready. Taking a bit more time than her normally would to get ready, he made sure he was travel ready before going to search for Paloma. He wasn't used to the sword resting against his hip anymore, and he held it as he made his way through the halls so it wouldn't clang loudly against his leg.

As he entered the infirmary, the dimly lit room showed only a handful of occupied beds. Paloma's...was not one of them. One of the nurses that had pulled the night watch caught his attention and he made his way quietly over to her. "Where did lady Paloma go? Is she getting ready to leave?"

The nurse shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry, King Edgar. She went missing in the night. I don't know where she could have gotten to." Edgar's brow furrowed as he looked around the room. Why would she have left? She knew we were heading out first thing... Thanking the nurse quietly, he made his way to the guards on the ground level, but they hadn't seen her. Maybe she went out owards one of the towers? Irritation flowed through him as he found himself chasing a desperate mother around his own castle, and he made his way along the side of his castle.

"King Edgar, sir! What are you doing out here so early?" one of the more eager recruits asked. Despite his mood, he flashed the boy a small smile and explained his search for Paloma. "Oh, she entered her ship a couple of hours ago. She hasn't come out yet."

Edgar's eyes widened and he found himself thanking yet another one of his staff, though this time it was genuine. Ducking into the empty doorway, he continued his search for the missing woman. This is insanity! How many places in a ship can there be to hide? Eventually (in the last room he checked in), he found her asleep sitting upright on a bed. His irritation fled as he saw how tired she was, and thought about how distraught she must be to fall asleep in such an uncomfortable position.

Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, he placed a hand on her good shoulder. "Lady Paloma?" His voice was soft, but above a whisper so it would be heard. "Lady Paloma, we need to leave soon."

[Al-Cid, Rakesh, Paloma, Mateo]

At the feeling of a hand jostling her shoulder, Paloma’s face scrunched and a few intelligible words were muttered as she stirred from her sleep. It took a moment for awareness to fully return.

“Edgar?” Paloma whispered, once she was awake enough to realize just where she was, and who it was that woke her.

“Why are you...” She trailed, never finishing her question as the king’s words caught up with her groggy mind. She scrunched her nose again, and covered her mouth with her hand while she yawned. “Is it morning, already?” It was then that she noticed the small stream of light shining through the cabin’s small porthole, and reflecting off the small dust particles that floated in the wair. Blinking, Paloma stifle another yawn with the back of her hand, and moved to sit up straighter. Her gaze returned to Edgar, and she lifted her fingers to rest against his wrist, “Of course, it is... Perdónenme... I-ah,” Paloma flinched at an ache she felt spanning from her lower back straight through to her ribs--a combined consequence of her poor sleeping position and her injury.

Choosing to ignore her physical hurt, she gave Edgar a wan smile and continued, “I must have fallen asleep out here. Just... Allow of me one moment to gather a few of my... things. I will be ready to depart, shortly.”

[Beebee]

Offering the exhausted woman a smile as her eyes fluttered open, he nodded when she confirmed it was indeed him. Keeping a hand on her shoulder in case she were to shift suddenly and possibly hurt herself (since she wasn't fully healed yet), he watched with some amusement as she connected the dots. "I've been all over looking for you." he admitted with a grin, and his eyes darted down when she touched his wrist. She could probably feel his pulse jump at the contact, and he slowly pulled back.

At her quiet cry, he nearly leapt back as he attempted to support her side with his hand. "Take it easy, Paloma." he said quickly, but she didn't seem to need his help. Reluctantly pulling away, his eyes followed her as she started to move on her own. "I'll...ah...wait outside." A small part of him felt like he was intruding on something painfully personal. Getting to his feet, he offered her another smile before turning and exiting the ship.

Edgar took the time to gather up the pair of chocobos he had picked out the day before. They would need to move swiftly and had a lot of ground together if they were going to make it to Rabanastre at a decent hour. Double checking the saddles, he had to fix one of them as it had come a little loose. That was all he needed, to fall on his face in front of the beautiful Paloma. Their saddlebags were full of useful items they may need on their journey, as well as plenty of food and water. Now, they were ready to go.

Leading both birds to the outside of the ship, he gave them both a friendly pat as he waited patiently for Paloma to emerge.

[Al-Cid, Rakesh, Paloma, Mateo]

Paloma emerged from the airship not long after Edgar returned.

She had changed her clothing. Gone was the modest dress that the infirmary had supplied her during her stay. In its place, an off-white blouse in which the first few buttons were left undone, resulting in a rather plunging neckline that didn’t leave much to the imagination. Above her left breast and below her collarbone, the edge of a tattoo could be seen peeking out from under the collar of her blouse; but, what exactly that tattoo was of, could not be discerned. Her fitted trousers were dark, and of a color that seemed to lay somewhere between brown and black. Upon closer look, one could see that the brown trousers carried an pattern embroidered with black. The trousers disappeared under her reddish-brown leather boots, which came to a height just under her knee. The boots held laces up the front, and around the upper area, were straps that held a sheathed bowie knife in place. Over it all, she wore a long, leather riding jacket of a smokey, burgundy color. Although the upper part of her jacket was high collared, with its scooping neck and lack of sleeves, it seemed more a cross between a vest and corset. The coat was left to hang open, and almost seemed to flutter in the wind behind her as strode toward edger. As she moved, glimpses could be caught of a hollister at her hip, which was affixed to her belt. On that hollister, one could see a six shooter. At each of her shoulders were straps that stemmed from a scabbard which hung across her back. In that scabbard, was a much longer weapon--a rifle. While both of her hands were gloved, her nearly her entire left arm was wrapped in an assortment of cloth, buckles, and straps. Atop her head were a pair of elaborate goggles, in which the right side was equipped with a small scope. While her hair had been cinched near the nape of her neck, several thick curls had managed to wrangle free. All in all, she presented the appearance of a roguish huntswoman.

“Edgar.” Paloma greeted as she came to a halt next to Edgar. At the king’s look, Paloma returned a coy smile, “A girl never travels unprepared.”

She glanced toward the awaiting mounts, and blinked when she noticed that the chocobos looked a bit different than the ones in which she was used to seeing. There beaks were quite a bit shorter, and heads more rounded than the ones of her world--whose longer beaks and thinner heads gave them an almost primal appearance.

“Right, then...” Clearing her throat, she looked back toward Edgar. “A word before we depart... I would like to make for the Gold Saucer, before Rabanastre. According to the map, 'tis en route; thus, I wouldn't want to pass that locale by, in the event my son happened upon it.”

[Beebee]

Edgar couldn't help but stare as Paloma exited the ship. Her clothing choice was surprisingly suitable for desert travel, and he wasn't about to complain about the amount of skin she was showing. His eyes darted to her chest, where he could see...something...peeking out from her blouse, but even though he was a known womanizer he was still a gentleman, and his eyes continued to inspect her outfit. She was armed as well, which meant she would be able to take care of herself in the desert. Nodding approvingly, he offered her a shaky smile as he hoped she wouldn't take offence to his staring. It didn't seem like she did though.

A small chuckle escaped him at her tone, and he shook his head. "And prepared you are." he teased back as he turned to busy himself with double checking the chocobos...again. In reality he needed a moment to compose himself, which he managed to do just as Paloma recaptured his attention. Turning back to give her a questioning look as she spoke, he grasped his chin lightly in thought. "I don't see why we can't stop there. It would only be a slight detour, and it is on the way."

The king offered her another soft smile. "We should get going." Gesturing for her to move closer to one of the massive birds, he cupped his hands to assist her into the saddle. He wasn't sure if she needed the help, but she still wasn't healed from the crash and she was obviously still sore if her wake-up had been any indication. Once she was settled on her chocobo, he easily swung up into his own saddle just as two more soldiers rode up to them. Keeping a sigh in check as he realized that they were to be his escorts, he turned his bird in the direction of the glowing amusement park. "Alright, let's move out." he commanded, and urged his bird into a jog. Once he saw how Paloma made out at an easy pace, with her injuries, he would determine how fast they could move.

[Al-Cid, Rakesh, Paloma, Mateo]

Paloma accepted Edgar’s help, placing a hand on his shoulder briefly, to balance herself, before she placed her foot within his cupped hands and was hoisted onto the tall bird’s back. Once seated upon the saddle, Paloma waited until Edgar and his men were ready to depart. They set off into the desert, shortly thereafter.

The journey to Rabanastre had taken much longer than Paloma would have preferred. The bouncing gait of the Chocobo was jarring at best, painful at worst. Although Paloma often tried to push herself to ignore the pain for sake of expediency, Edgar would have none of that. And so they took the path carefully, at only a slight lope.

“What I would do for a cure magick.” Paloma murmured at one point along the way.

At just over a half day’s trek, the search party made it to the Gold Saucer. Much to Paloma’s surprise, this locale turned to be less of a town, and more of an enormous carnival. A theme-park, they called it, with all sorts of entertainment to be found. Mateo would have loved such a place, as fond of games as he was; and for a moment, Paloma was hopeful that her son had found his way there. As it turned out, Edgar had a gold pass, and the party was allowed easy admittance. While passing through the the saucer’s different squares, she spoke with the staff and asked if any children had been found unattended. There were a few, but to Paloma’s disappointment, her son was not among them.

When they finally concluded their search of the Gold Saucer, evening was well approaching. It would be dusk soon, and so it was decided that the party would spend the night at the park’s hotel. And what a strange hotel it was! Over-the-top with its macabre theme, the hotel looked more like a haunted manor erected within the centre of a cemetery. It was surely the strangest inn that Paloma had ever entered--screams in lieu of a bell’s chime could be heard as they opened the front door, and the man at the desk was costumed like a hung skeleton.

Edgar soon made the room arrangements--Paloma with to her own, and the men to theirs.

Once in the privacy of her room, Paloma took the opportunity to use the room’s attached washroom--a private one just for the room’s occupants. What a novelty! It was something she’d only seen in the most luxurious of inns. She had not exactly expected to find one here, but was nonetheless thankful for it. Within that washroom large tub, she took the time to soak the aches of the day away. It was a tub that, to her surprise, had a switch which stirred the water and caused it to bubble. She found the pressure of the water against her back to be quite pleasant, and almost fell asleep right there.

It wasn’t until the water started to cool that she left the bath. She redressed, but decided to leave her coat and weapons upon the bed as she drifted toward the room's window and took a seat in the chair nearby. She spent the next few minutes toweling the excess water from her thick hair, before brushing free the tangles with her fingers. Finally, she started plaiting her still damp locks.

She was running on routine, now, trying not to fret over her child--she needed to keep hope, especially now. They had not found him at the Gold Saucer, but there was still Rabanastre, and there was also the other parties searching to the north and west. Still, she was worried, and she doubted that she would sleep well until the mystery of her son’s disappearance was solved.

[Beebee]

Edgar had never been more thankful that he was king than when he was on this particular road-trip. He had personally spent time with each of his birds and each of his soldiers. They all listened to him and respected him. He had been paying close attention to not only his birds' health, but that of his companion as well. When the going got particularly rough and the woman couldn't hide her discomfort quite well enough, he would call a halt and they would take a little break to get out of the saddles, get some food and water, and simply rest. They weren't pushing the chocobos hard, staying at a steady lope in consideration of Paloma's abilities at the moment.

The first time he called for a break, Paloma had objected. Not as much as he had thought, as she only gave a quiet, 'Must we?' when he said to stop, but his birds were used to hearing his voice. They all slowed to a walk before coming to a complete halt, and he only offered the grieving mother a small smile as they dismounted. Only after ensuring his mounts were cared for and been properly hydrated and fed did he look after himself. The king had kept a close eye on Paloma, and was thankful that his soldiers had been around long enough to know that she would need to be monitored. They had made sure she ate and drank, and after a short break they were off again.

Their trip stayed relatively the same, the only thing changing was Paloma's lack of objection the further they got from the castle. Their breaks lengthened a bit each time, and Edgar couldn't deny that even he was exhausted by the time the Gold Saucer properly came into view. He hadn't expected to be traveling quite so heavily at mid-day in the desert, but that was how it came to be. Giving the chocobos one last good watering, and another feeding of greens, the king and his entourage entered the amusement park. He had bought a gold pass shortly after the Merge, and had spent a decent amount of time here (namely at the chocobo races).

Shooting the door-woman a charming smile, he flashed his gold pass at her and moved on past her. The soldiers that had accompanied them stayed close as they toured the park, Edgar staying close to Paloma to make sure she didn't cause herself any more damage. He was a little disappointed that they hadn't found Mateo here, but it wasn't that surprising. "Don't worry, this was only the first stop." They passed by a window at one point and Edgar saw the sun was setting. "We should stay here for the night and rest up. We can head to Rabanstre first thing in the morning."

The hotel wasn't a shock to Edgar as he had stayed there before. Reserving three rooms (one for Paloma, one for himself, and one for the pair of soldiers), he smiled as he saw his room was right next to Paloma's. The first thing he did once he got into his room was take a nice hot bath. Even though they lived in the desert, he still couldn't deny that a hot bath was heavenly. He cleaned all the dirt and sand that had accumulated under his clothing and then just relaxed in the spacious tub. Eventually though, the water started to cool off and he reluctantly got out of the tub. Taking some extra time to brush out his hair, he allowed it to finish drying before bothering to tie it back, and he got re-dressed. He left his sword, armour and cape off, instead choosing to go 'casual' in his pants, boots and blue dress-shirt. He wondered briefly if he should take his cape, but decided to forego it at the moment.

After checking his reflection once more in the mirror, he nodded to himself and glanced outside. He could see the moon in the distance, and the lights of the Gold Saucer reflecting off the hundreds of miles of sand. Smiling at the sight, he turned and left his room and moved next door. Knocking smartly on the door, he patiently waited for a response. Hearing a soft 'come in' come from the other side of the door, he opened the door and entered the room. Her coat was laying on the bed, accentuating the low dip in her blouse and his eyes darted in that direction quickly before returning to his face. Now he felt under-dressed.

"Good evening, Lady Paloma." he said politely, but with that boyish grin ever present. "I was wondering if you wanted to go on another tour of the park. Perhaps this time we can take in some of the sights. It really is beautiful here, and I think you'd enjoy it. It would make the time pass a little faster as well." Edgar realized he was rambling a bit and shut himself up quickly with an embarrassed smile. He gave a short tug on his hair, and found himself more nervous than he expected. Why am I so nervous? It isn't a date. Just getting her out of her room and getting her mind off her missing son. It didn't really matter what she said. He could always go back to the chocobo races and win some more money.

[Al-Cid, Rakesh, Paloma, Mateo]

As tormenting as these weeks had been, she was never comfortable with wallowing--nothing could be accomplished by it. Although she could be patient when the circumstances warranted, she could not deny that sitting around with little to do eventually did make for an antsy Paloma. Often she would feel as though she was wasting precious time that could be better spent doing something. So when Edgar entered her room, and asked if she would she join him on a tour of the park, Paloma was quick to her feet with both enthused and relieved, “Oh, lord yes!”

A few quick steps later Paloms was hooking her arm around Edgar’s elbow whilst adding that, “Faram knows I could use the distraction,” before practically dragging the king back out through the door.

“Where to, first, do you think?”

[Beebee]

Edgar let out a laugh at the quick response, but it died quickly as she linked her arm through his and all of a sudden he was back outside. "Faram?" he asked in confusion, before shaking his head. "No, never mind. How about..." Thinking of the different areas, the king rested his hand on the smaller arm that was pushed through his own. "I've never tried Speed Square. It's rumoured to be fairly fun. You get to shoot things, anyway." he said with a shrug of his free shoulder. Shooting her another grin, he led her towards the tombstone that connected to Speed Square and touched the latch. Remembering the way the two areas were connected, he didn't think to warn the woman at his side, only managing to wrap his arm around her back and holding her close as they fell down the tube towards Speed Square. Eventually the tube looped around and his back was against the edge of it, and they shot out of the opening.

He stumbled a bit at the 'landing', but managed to keep both of them on their feet. "Whoa! I forgot how fast that thing goes." he laughed, and he stepped a little away just in case he had overstepped his bounds during their little...trip. Giving her a short bow, Edgar extended his arm again in case she wanted to continue to be close to him, and headed towards the entrance to the ride. "Two, please." he said politely with a soft smile towards the attendant. The woman offered them both a small smile before running the payment through and showing them the way to enter the car.

Edgar allowed Paloma to get in first, offering his hand in case she needed help getting in. He didn't care if she took it or not, but he was a gentleman and would always put a woman's needs before his own. "It's a simple ride. Targets will move all around the car and you have to shoot them with the lasers provided." the attendant said as she pointed out two toy guns stowed in the front of the car. "Points are tallied based on accuracy and number of targets destroyed. Enjoy!" Locking the safety bar in place, the car started to move with a lurch, and the king forced himself not to sigh. He knew he wasn't going to do well in this game.

Pulling his own gun from its holster, he glanced over at Paloma with another smile. "Here we go!" he said, and took aim as the first target flew across their path. By the end of the ride, he had a wide smile on his face and was laughing a bit as he missed his intended target by a mile. "There, my dear, is the reason why I don't use guns as a weapon." he laughed, and as the safety bar was raised he got out and offered his hand to his new friend once more to help her out of the car. "Why don't we go see how we did? I know you won, but I'm curious as to how much you beat me by." He wasn't being modest, he really did do horribly at the game. But he had to admit it was fun.

Edgar burst out laughing as he saw his score. It was the lowest listed on the board. Doubling over with both arms wrapped around his middle, he laughed harder than he had in a long time. I'm a king! I'm supposed to be at least decent at skill-testing questions or games. Straightening up, he wiped a tear from his eye as he turned back to Paloma. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to react that strongly. It's just..." Letting out another laugh, he gestured towards the board. "How did you do? And where would you like to go next?"

[Al-Cid, Rakesh, Paloma, Mateo]

Paloma gave a startled noise when the floor suddenly dropped out from under her feet. For just one moment, there was a slight weightless feeling before she was falling. Then in the next moment, an arm was around her as the king held her close as they were shot through a tube. Paloma stumbled once they made it to the other side, But Edgar managed to keep them both afoot. Edgar stepped away from her, and Paloma gave him a wary look. “A little warning, next time?” When Edgar bowed and offered her his arm, she accepted it with a short laugh and a small smirk.

They arrived at the ride’s entrance soon after. Edgar paid the fare, and the attendant took their names for the scoreboard before leading them to their car. When Esger offered his hand to assist Paloma into the car, she accepted it out of politeness. Once both were settled into the car, Edgar explained the game. Although Paloma did not know what lazars were, the mechanics were familiar enough--it was a carnival shooting game. When ride started, Paloma removed the holster of its toy gun, and took aim.

The game proved to be fun, and it did well to relieve some of Paloma’s frayed nerves through the familiarity of it all. But all too soon, the ride was over. Paloma gave Edgar a smile when he commented about his own expertise in the area, “That’s quite all right. I would not know how to wield a sword.”

She gave another short laugh when he suggested to go see how each fared, “Right, then.”

Upon reaching the leaderboard, and Paloma was a little taken back by the appearance of it. It was a flat panel, like many leaderboards were, but this one looked to be made of a glass-like material. And it was illuminated from the inside, its light forming names and letters across the surface. Paloma had seen nothing like this before.

Edgar’s sudden laughter brought Paloma’s attention back to the king. He was doubled over laughing. When she looked back toward the leaderboard, she found his score to be the lowest one. Paloma let an amused laugh escape, as well, for it was indeed very low. And, she was a little bit impressed by how much of a good sport he was being, despite losing so horribly.

Then the king composed himself, and suggested that Paloma find her own score. Gaze returning to the board, she found her name to be near the top.

“Third place.” Paloma smiled, “Not too bad, but it would have been nice to get top score...” Her smile turned to a grin as, out of curiosity, she looked up to see who had beaten her. The name above her own, she did not recognize, but she wasn’t really surprised about that.

It was the name at first place that caused her grin to falter.

ARTAIR

She didn’t seem to hear when Edger asked her where to go next. When he prompted her again, and placed his hand on her shoulder while asking if she was all right, she blinked. Shaking her head, and trying to gather her thoughts at the same time, she half turned to look toward Edgar.

“I’m quite all right... It’s just...” Her gaze returned to the leaderboard as she looked once again at the top name. “Maybe this means nothing... But... That name in first place, Artair, it is the name of a character from a story I used to read to Mateo when he was small.”

“It was an old fable about a desert prince. The fable goes that Artiar was not fond about duties that came with being a prince, so he often snuck out to play. One of the times whilst out, galavanting, a sandstorm had overcome the desert. Artair hid himself away in a cave, and waited for the storm to pass. When he finally returned the palace, he found it to be empty. An evil djinn, who hating the humes that resided within the desert, had used his powers to send them away. Long story short, Artair went on a quest to seek out that evil djinn, and get revenge. When he finally found the djinn’s stronghold, he found his people to be frozen within a prison of crystal. Seeking to save his people, he tricked it into entering a lamp; and for that, gained power over the djinn through the granting of three wishes. He was then able to use his first two wishes to free his people free from their prison, and have them returned to their palace. Then, Artair made his final wish--that the djinn would no longer be able to use its powers to do harm. But, as the saying goes, be careful of what you wish for, you might just get it. While djinn granted Artair’s wish, it, too, had a trick. The djinn removed itself of it’s powers, and gave them to Artair--turning Artair into a djinn. And so, the servant became the master, and Artair became trapped within the djinn’s lamp...”

Paloma trailed off, lost in thought for a moment, before she scrunched her nose, and turned to Edgar to give him an apologetic look, “Listen to me, prattling on about a child’s story.”

[Beebee]

"Third place is admirable." he complimented, though Paloma didn't seem to be listening. Either that or she really didn't want to decide where to go next, but that didn't seem to fit with the theme of the evening. "Paloma? Are you alright?" he asked as he dropped a hand on her good shoulder to regain her attention? That seemed to do the trick, although she still seemed a little unfocused. What's caught her interest? Her gaze flickered from him back to the board, and his eyes followed hers. At the mention of her son, his eyes shot down to hers and it was only his pride as a king that kept him from dropping his mouth open in shock.

Edgar stayed silent as Paloma told her the story she had told Mateo in his youth, and he had to admit it made for a good story. It taught an important lesson, and it was interesting enough to captivate both children and adults alike. "Prattle away." he said with wave of his hand and an easy grin on his lips. "It sounds like a good story to draw from." Blue eyes shifted over to the first place name on the board. "Hmmmm..."

Holding his hand up for her to wait there, he went back over to the attendant. "I have a question for you." he said as he leaned sideways with his hip against the small desk she stood at. "The leader on that board of yours, you wouldn't happen to remember what he looked like, do you?" The young woman bit her lip in thought as she glanced over at the leaderboard.

"Artair? Hmmmm..." Tucking her hair behind her ear, she continued to stare at the name in hopes that it would ring some sort of a bell in her. Eventually, though, she shook her head in a negative. "I'm sorry. It was quite a while ago. I vaguely remember the score but nothing about the person who set the record. I'm sorry." she said again. Edgar let out a small sigh of disappointment before giving the attendant a friendly smile.

"That's alright. Thank you for trying." he said as he gave her arm a gentle pat, and moved back to where he had left Paloma. "I thought she might remember." he said apologetically. "But...she said that the person who got that score set it a while ago. So it probably wasn't Mateo." Realizing how harsh he sounded, he stepped closer and wrapped his arm carefully around her shoulders, steering her towards the exit. "We won't give up. We've only really just started looking."

In Paloma's condition, Edgar didn't think it likely that she was ready to decide their next destination. Chocobos it is! "Come on. Let's head over to Chocobo Square. It's a nice easy walking tunnel this time. No surprises." he said with a grin. Keeping his arm locked around her shoulder, he started to walk towards the tunnel that led to Chocobo Square. The lights made him flinch slightly as they ascended the giant stairway, and entered the main area to place their bets. Releasing Paloma with another smile, he pulled out his coin purse and counted out some money. 1000 gil. Keeping the rest for himself, he handed her the money. "Here. We can both bet. It's 200 gil a race. I figure 5 races is a good start. Who knows, maybe we'll win big."

Edgar was feeling a little giddy at the thought of watching the chocobo races. He enjoyed the betting aspect of it but his main excitement came from watching the birds move. The interaction between the jockeys and the mounts were incredible, and in the higher classes the jockeys only needed to stay on their chocobo. The birds knew what to do at that point. Moving to the counter, he placed his first bet on a red chocobo named 'Roger'. What a ridiculous name for a chocobo. But his stats were good. Once Paloma had placed her bet (or not), they could take their seats and watch the race.

[Al-Cid, Rakesh, Paloma, Mateo]

Paloma was disappointed to find that the top score had likely not been made by Mateo. If it had been there for a while, then it must have been set by someone else from her world.

When Edgar wrapped his arm around her shoulder and urged her forward, Paloma followed the king’s lead. Together they walked toward the Gold Saucer’s brightly lit upper levels. It was a long walk spent mostly in silence; which was fine. Paloma did not feel the mood to talk, at moment. So, she just took in the sights as they ascended. It wasn’t until they reached the Chocobo Square that Edgar released her.

She looked over toward Edgar when she heard the sound him him rustling through his coin purse, and was a little surprise when he handed her one thousand gil. Sure, it wasn’t that much, but she had not expected to be handed any money at all. Or, more like, she was not used to being on the receiving end of another’s generosity. Often, it was she who footed the bill when on outings with friends, for the coffers of the Ordalia Trading Company, and House Milagros by ownership, ran deeper than most. But, in this new world, she realized, she did not know the standing of her father’s company. Where they still in operation? This was something she’d have to inquire of Old Dalan in Lowtown, once they arrived at Rabanastre.

So, it was with some hesitance, and a “Thank you,” that Paloma accepted the gil while mentally vowing to repay the king his generosity, once she was able to reconnect with the merchant fleet. She then followed Edgar to the counter.

Now, while Paloma had a basic understanding of how to ride a Chocobo, she admittedly knew next to nothing about them when it came to racing. She wasn't exactly sure how to interpret the stat board, so she only have it a cursory once-over before choosing a bird at random. Bet placed, she joined Edgar as they made their way to the seating area to watch the race.

As the race commenced, the variety of colors in the chocobos were surprising. “Look at that... Never have I seen such color on a chocobo...” Paloma murmured as she leaned forward in her seat, trying to get a better look at the birds as they raced. Their coloring was something new to her, since she had only ever seen them in yellow.

[Beebee]

Edgar had noticed Paloma's slight reluctance to accept his money, but chose to ignore it. She had accepted it in the end, which was all that mattered. He was surprised to find himself relieved at the small token she had taken, and waited for her to place her bet. They had chosen the long course this time, and the king was excited to share this thrill of his with Paloma. "It was surprising to me, too! I've only ever seen a yellow chocobo as well. To see such colours was...laughable at first. But they are rather beautiful."

There was, of course, the standard yellow chocobo. A green, red (his pick), purple, white, and a blue raced alongside it. As Paloma leaned forward to get a better look at the birds, Edgar smiled and leaned back while draping his arm over the back of Paloma's seat. He could see the birds on the screen above the track, but they were in view down below as well. It was quite the sight. The exciting part of the race was the final stretch, but to watch the birds run through various obstacles was incredible.

"It's amazing what they can run through. How they push through their fears? Battling with one another to be the top bird? True, their riders urge them through the various obstacles, but if the birds themselves can't face their fears they have no way of performing well." Blue eyes darted over to his companion, and a small smile was on his lips as he spoke. "They are very similar to people, really. They make friendships, have families, fears, and goals. There are a great many similarities between us. The problem is that nobody takes the time to notice...unless it relates to them in some way."

The birds were fighting their way through the water now, and a couple had attempted to turn back only to be spurred on by their riders. Edgar noticed, with a slightly wider smile, that the red was in the lead. Though the yellow and white were right behind him. It was going to be a close one today! And this was only the first race! The king's pulse quickened in anticipation, but he forced himself to remain calm. He couldn't lose himself in the sport, not yet. Perhaps he could focus on the next race. Lightly touching Paloma's back, he leaned closer to whisper in her ear, not wanting the whole stadium to hear about her problems. "We'll find him, my lady. Please don't lose hope."

Allowing her the time to absorb his words, it was only then that he returned his attention to the track. The birds were coming up to the final stretch! He was still listening for a word from his friend, but he leaned forward in his seat to watch them cross the bridge and into the final area. "Come on, come on!" he whispered to himself as he watched the red chocobo straining to stay in the lead. Breathing quicker in anticipation, his eyes seemed to glow as he watched them round the final turn. The white had dropped off to be replaced by the green, and all three birds were neck in neck. It looked, from their angle, to be a dead tie, and Edgar laughed and clapped his hands together once before looking up at the screen to see the final times. Roger, the red chocobo, ended up taking second. He let out a sigh of defeat and slumped in his chair, but the smile was still on his face. The green had pulled out the win. "How did you do?"

[OOC: You can have them place more bets if you want...or timeskip (Edgar will want at least his five races haha so you can keep it vague if you want to timeskip). It's your call!]