Afternoon Travels (June 4, 12pm) (Open)

[Prince Endymion]

The young prince had women up early that morning with the intention of having a serious discussion with his father. Regardless, the older male seemed more focused on the events for the coming weekend.

“We can continue talk of war once the four kings have arrived. Until then, my son, we are to maintain a calm visage. I have decided not to cancel the Astéri festival. Everything will go on as normal if only to quiet any lingering rumors”

It seemed useless to try to argue with his father. So, instead, he decided to pay the market another visit. The ride down the town below was nice enough. Endymion found himself picking over the things that had kept him awake the previous night.

His clothing was somewhat relaxed, good for a long horse ride. He wore a dark burgundy long-sleeved tunic with a pair of fitted dark brown pants. His black cape, that hung over half his shoulders hide his scabbard. A pair of thick rider’s gloves covered his hands. His hair was a disheveled mess from the ride down, but he didn’t care at that point. It wasn’t as if he was trying to stand out.

Endymion left his horse, Tachýs, at one of the Inn stables, and started to explore. Once again, he found the market swarming with travelers and locals. Many of the business owners had started putting up decorations, setting up booths, and getting the area prepared for the coming Saturday.

The dark-haired young man paused at a few stalls before stopping at one of the jewelers. “Good sir, I need to buy a few star-shaped pendants… Aye, it is for the festival”

[Zoisite]

Had it just been him, Zoisite might have teleported to the market, but he had a guest with him and who knows how much stuff they would buy to take back? So he'd had his russet stallion, called Ruby, saddled, and borrowed some less conspicuous clothes for the Mercurian Princess to wear so she wouldn't stand out quite so much... or at least as much as a teen girl with gray hair and golden eyes could blend in with the human populace. Now he had to wonder whether there were any horses on Mercury.

"Have you ever been on one of these before?" he asked as one of the stable boys helped her up to ride (sidesaddle, like a lady, or so she was instructed) behind Zoi. "The ride is a little bumpy, but as long as you hold onto me so you don't fall off you'll be fine."

Soon enough they had reached the market and Zoi tied Ruby up with some of the other horses near the entrance of the marketplace.

"Wait here, we'll be back," he promised the horse, and gave him a fond kiss on the nose. Then, to his companion, "He'll be fine here until we get back. Come on, let's have a look around."

Zoi made a beeline for a stall selling fine women's clothing first; he wanted to get her something of her own to wear instead of this borrowed dress which fit a little too large and didn't go with her coloring at all. He held a gown done in ice blue with a darker blue bodice with a heart-shaped neckline up in front of her first. "What do you think about this one?"

[Princess Eirlys]

Eirlys had been quite thankful for the less conspicuous clothes Zoisite had given her, even if the dress was a bit baggy and uncomfortable, when she had been instructed to get up on this odd four-legged beast that Zoisite had called a horse, she had been a little tentative in getting onto it, at his question she had shaken her head and had clung quite tightly to Zoisite's waist when they went riding into town.

Now she was less scared, and more curious about the horse, wondering how such a graceful beast could exist. When she and Zoisite got off of the equine, she smiled at Ruby and pet him gently, murmuring a soft 'thank you' to him, then followed Zoi into town.

Looking around with wonder, she blinked when he broke into her thoughts and perked at the beautiful ice blue, and dark blue dress. "Oh- Oh that's simply <i>beautiful</i> I love the coloring, blue is one of my favorite colors." She said happily, her hazel eyes sparkling softly as she took in the dress.

[Prince Endymion]

One of the ladies brought out a small collection of star themed pendants. Each had their own special design which were constellations based or simple star shapes. He ended up picking six pendants, each with match velvet ribbons. So, if the maiden so wished, she could wear the bobble.

“Mmhmm, I would like one more. But this one must be special. No -- two more” Endymion wished he could extend an olive branch to the moon kingdom, or at least invite the princess. It would be a nice way to at least learn more about them. Aside from that, he just wanted to see Princess Serenity again.

Aside from that, he hopped Beryl would attend as well. It would be one the few times it would be acceptable for her to attend such an event. Even though his heart was torn, he had not forgotten about his promise to try to present Beryl to his family.


“It’s for someone with the beauty of the stars above. I want to give her something special, well, if she does attend the festival. Ah, that one” His gaze fell on a small locket decorated with tiny gems that represented the maiden of the late summer sky.

“Yes, this will due nicely…”


“And for the second, this one must have a mysterious feel? Does that make any sense to you?

[Zoisite]

"Oh, right, I forgot to ask you what colors you like to wear," he said, anime sweatdropping cutely. "So blue is a favorite. What others do you like? I think you would look nice in bright colors, since they would contrast so well with your skin. Earth tones would also look good, I think. But what do you like to wear?"

Even as he spoke, he was already going through a rack of dresses, looking for other things that would look good on the alien. A bright, sunny yellow, maybe? Or a rich forest green? It had been a while since he'd had a real girl to dress- his sister had stopped letting him choose her clothes around age ten, when she decided she was a big girl and could do it all by herself. But Zoi still tried to keep up with current fashion, and indeed sometimes wished he could dress that way, himself, but that would lead to scandal, especially since he had become the Northern King. It was bad enough that he seemed to show no romantic interest in women, but to dress like one, too?

[Princess Eirlys]

"To be honest with you I like blues and whites, but, if you feel like other colors would look good on me, then go ahead and pick." Eirlys smiled at him. "I also like green, and red, so those kind of colors I know look good on me, I don't know about any other colors though." She blushed softly not used to shopping like this. Usually her clothing was picked for her and she wouldn't have a choice, but this? Having a choice? It was a little overwhelming.

[Prince Endymion]

Endymion was shown a few more charms that matched the Summer Festival theme. Most of them had tiny stones, while others had one central star-shapped stone. It wasn’t long until one of these shiny trinkets caught his eye. It was silver pendant with an amethyst stones shaped like tiny stars.



“Yes, that will do nicely. Can you please place the two special ones in their own velvet pouches? Thanks!”



The dark haired prince was not sure if either one of his current… crushes, were going to attend. He was not sure if Beryl liked those type of events. Ah well, with so many things going on in the Kingdom, he was sure he could find a chance to sneak away to see her. As for the moon princess, he was sure he had even less chance of seeing her at the event. Oh well! He did not mind taking the gamble.



“Hmmm… what else did I come here to get…?” His thoughts began to drift as he started to wonder. A familiar face soon caught his eye.

“Zoisite? Ah, what brings you to the market? Do you plan on purchasing summer fruits?”

[Zoisite]

Arwyn seemed overwhelmed by the whole process of shopping for clothes, as though she never got to choose for herself before. It would be easy to just pick a bunch of stuff out for her without her input, and she would probably even appreciate it if he did, but it would be better for her if he made her decide for herself... even if that might possibly lead to her wearing something he wouldn't recommend.

"Well, I want you to have something you like, not just something to please me," he said. "After all, you're the one who will have to wear it. I can give you opinions and help you pick things out, but I don't want to just do it for you."

Zoi held up a cute yellow dress with puffy sleeves and a sash that tied in a big, puffy bow at the back for her consideration, when he heard his name being spoken and he turned to see Endymion, the Prince of the Golden Kingdom, wondering whether Zoi had come to get some fruit.

"Now that you say it, fruit does sound like a good idea. But my main reason for coming was to help my friend here find some nice dresses to wear. She's new to the kingdom and doesn't know much about the current local fashions."

[Princess Eirlys]

"Sorry, I'm not used to this." Eirlys admitted, wrinkling her nose when Zoisite held up a yellow monstrosity and she shook her head, side-stepping when a male voice broke into the conversation, Eirlys blinked when she saw a young man with fluffy hair and deep dark eyes. She immediately recognized him as royalty simply by the way he spoke and held himself, so she curtsied respectfully to him.

"Hello." She greeted softly, smiling at Endymion. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Arwyn." Standing up straight, she stuck close to Zoisite, a little nervous about meeting someone else on this beautiful but foreign planet.

She had never seen so much green and natural plant life, it stunned her, not to mention it seemed the royals walked amongst the commoners without much trouble. Why couldn't Mercury be like that? Why was she forced to disguise herself just to be around others? It wasn't right.

[Prince Endymion]

“Even though that’s not my main reason for coming here, I might pick on a few extra pomegranates.” Endymion admitted. “I picked out a few cute trinkets to pass out at the festival.”

“Oh? Ah, that’s very nice of you, Zoisite…” he commented, “I’ll put in a word to the cook to have a few extra tarts made…” He laughed a bit as he floofed his hair.

He turned his attention to the traveler. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Arwyn.”

“This is one of the better times to visit the kingdom. I hope you plan on attending the festivities? In a day, or so, the kingdom will be celebrating a summer star festival. There will be games, food, and a dance to celebrate.”

[Zoisite]

"Pomegranates would be lovely," Zoi agreed, then explained to Arwyn, "Pomegranates are a beautiful fruit they grow here with red jewel-like seeds you can eat. They taste kind of sour, but good, and they make great fruit tarts."

She should know what fruit tarts are, right? Or did they not make those on her planet? He wondered just how different their home planets were. What did people on her planet eat? Where did they live? What kinds of art and literature did they create? What did they do for fun? And what other amazing technologies did they have besides space ships and lenses that change a person's eyes? Unfortunately, this was hardly the place or time to discuss any of that. He would have to grill her when they were alone.

"With all due respect, are you sure this is a good time to hold your festival? There is a woman on the moon who wants to conquer and/or kill us all. Is it really wise to anger her?"

Of course, if Krutz were there with him at that moment, he would probably insist that those very circumstances made this the ideal time to hold a festival. They should thumb their noses at the lunar queen and practically dare her to attack during the festival. Zoi wasn't sure he agreed- think of the innocent lives that could be lost if they invited an attack! The people in this kingdom didn't appear to be as tough, generally speaking, as those where he came from. Or maybe he shouldn't judge based on appearance; after all, it was skill in combat more than size that won battles. Zoi himself was proof enough of that.



Princess Eirlys

[Prince Endymion]

“Pomegranates also pair well with honey and make nice tarts. The royal chief makes wonderful tarts… Even though they tend to be sour, this is the best time to get them. They tend to be a little sweeter…” he commented. He wasn’t sure what costumes the newcomer had, but he didn’t mind answering any of her questions.

“Truthfully, I don’t agree with this,” Endymion whispered. “I think it would have been best for the festival to be postponed. Yet, my father said that would be a show of weakness”

He paused a moment, speaking in a normal tone again, “No matter… My father has ordered extra guards on hand. He said if this woman was going to do anything, we will be able to see what she is really capable of. Again, another risky move but… It is out of my hands”