Interestingly enough, Lucina’s introduction on that night of love and heartbreak did not receive the shock that she would otherwise have expected from the people in front of her. The inflections in their voices were there, yes, but they more from a place of being interrupted than anything else. Lucy could tell they weren’t paying attention to the fact that she was still hanging off the edge of the platform they stood on while conversing with them, because there was no mention of it in any of the followup conversation. The two – Caius and Ardea – didn’t mention her ears, her blindfold, or even her seemingly outright rejection of gravity itself. Instead, they accepted her offer to travel with them without even batting an eye: a decision that the young genie was happy to receive - even if a bit cautious about.

While she was glad to be accepted so readily, Lucina was no stranger to the fact that the rapid judgment on the part of her hosts in this particular instance was not normal. She was aware of the fact that it was a bit odd for people to ignore her unusual nature (for once) and just treat her like a normal friend when they just met; but, considering where her mind had wandered lately, their willingness to have her along was a welcome crutch for her to abuse rather than to question.

Lucy had been drawn to the idea of visiting Abed as of late, to explore her “birthplace” and potentially move on from one of her inner demons. She thought she might do that after the party at first, but her invisible scars had kept her at bay. She knew she was not ready yet, and, like always, she hid this burden – among others – from the world by burying herself beneath a blanket of joy so that no one could tell the difference.  

“Awesome!” The tanuki girl responded with enthusiasm to her hosts, masking her cowardice beneath a thick, rose-tinted mask. She then busied herself with planning whilst the two finished talking about their intentions for the next morning; during which she floated over the edge and closer to them before taking to her bad habit of “laying down” in mid-air just before Caius asked how they were going to get to Egjora in the first place. “I can teleport us there,” the young Genie began whilst musing over everything she had to do in the next 24 hours, “but it will have to be tomorrow morning. I promised my sisters I would bring them stories from tonight, and so I will. But I need to head home at least a bit in order to do that. Not to mention that tomorrow is deer day, so a change of clothes will be in order.” The woman almost left her explanation at that, but then she suddenly remembered a warning that I had instructed her to give any time she was thinking about teleporting someone over a long distance. With that warning back in mind, she continued. “Oh right, I should probably also caution you that I’m not exactly good with altitude, so, if I’m transporting us, be prepared for a possible fall. I’ll try to minimize it, of course; but, uh, when the air is the same as the ground to you… yeah.”

Caius had already introduced himself by this point, so it was only natural that Lucina follow suit. That said, she was beginning to get distracted by hunger at this point in the conversation.  In fact, the first thing she thought of when the jeweler mentioned nevermelting icicles was how we used them in our house to chill meats and produce. Her brain was focusing on the feast upstairs now because of that and she immediately had a strong desire to visit the buffet table rather than the dance floor. Even so, she had manners to stay a little while longer, at least long enough to introduce herself in kind.

“Name’s Lucina,” she said while flipping upside down to do just that. “But you can call me Luca, Lucy, or Genie if those are easier. I go by all four.” Obviously, her dress fell into her face from this maneuver, providing an overall silly appearance, especially since her pantaloons were now visible for everyone to see. She quickly turned right side up again, true, but not before having to spit out the fabric of her dress that got in her mouth. “Right,” she said upon regaining her senses and dignity in that unfortunate turn of events, “Not used to wearing dresses in winter.”

Caius suggested he had a way to transport her and the young girl to the island duchy, though there was apprehension in his voice. The newcomer's bright personality had annulled the stiffness from Ardea, allowing the jeweler to be more at ease. She was more forthright in stating her solution to removing the distance, a simple portal that would bring them directly to Egjora. However, there was a condition–she would only do so come tomorrow, after informing her family members of what she had experienced today. With some minor preparations for something Ardea didn't understand, the floating girl would willingly send them across the sea. At the end she also gave a warning for possible slight inaccuracies in her magical transport, hinting they both should expect to protect themselves from falling. "A difference in altitude poses no obstacle for me. Once we reconvene, I will take the necessary precautions prior to our arrival." Her recollection of glyph spells had partially returned, thus a reduction of one's descent and physical damage were feasible. 

The opportunity for self-introduction had resurfaced again, to which she tersely referred to herself. "Ardea, that is as much as I can give you. I have no other matters that call for my attention as of now; the location where we will all meet again before our departure can be of your choosing." Unfortunately for Caius' perspective–Lucina's freewheeling behavior unintentionally exposed them to Lucina's lower undergarments. Ardea was also dressed in a gown, however the armor plating and the rest of what was underneath prevented a similar instance from occurring. With the bracelet from Caius in hand, she looked down at the beads mulling over what the young man said of the chosen colors. 'Memory' and 'new beginnings'…it was certainly fitting for all that she had learned within the hour. "It is fortuitous that we should all have reasons to see the same place. One may hope that this bodes well." Trivialities and small talk still eluded her grasp, though she was trying with what little she had. 

"A good evening to you, Caius and Lucina. I will remain here for a little longer until the festivities end." With a bow, she took her leave to ascend to the top ring of the Hanging Gardens. From there she would gaze out in all directions to commit to memory a world she either had forgotten or had never seen. The world felt much more vast with so much of it unknown. Left with her own thoughts, she considered this would be her last day before everything would change. For good or ill, once she saw the monastery she would no longer be the same person as she was today. Should she rejoice or be afraid of learning the truth? 

The night was full of surprises. He had met so many strange and new faces. The tanuki girl was filled with enthusiasm and friendliness. While Ardea appeared to be stiff however she seemed to be filled with deep thoughts. Caius managed to hide his fascination with these two. Perhaps they would even consider a friendship? Although that might be asking too much. A tiny bit of loneliness floated about his heart, turning and slowly growing over time. If only he could look into his own future. Relief flooded through him when the Lucina had mentioned being able to teleport them. The jewelry maker was not yet confident in his abilities for spell casting. 

"Oh….I believe I can find something to assist myself with that." Caius spoke softly, looking at the both of them.

When Lucina flipped upside down, Caius looked away. He wanted to avoid being impolite. Especially since they both would be his travelling companions tomorrow. His ears picked up what the tanuki girl and Ardea were saying as he kept his green eyes to the ground. Hearing that she had flipped to a normal position, he looked up again. It seemed that Ardea was desiring to see more of the garden. 

"It was nice meeting you both" He said timidly. 

Despite only meeting them today, he had a strong desire to help them both. The stiff woman, Ardea, had a massive challenge in front of her. Finding out her past could cause her more pain than good. He knew this. For not all people who had come to him for information about the past discovered pleasant things. Yet, this was a chance to help her. Perhaps he could find a way to ensure she copes or finds a healthy way to deal with possible upcoming pain. As for Lucina, he didn't know precisely what she desired. But she was exceptionally kind and did not appear to have any ill-will towards them. Maybe she was simply looking for company? Either way, Caius decided to try to find a way to help her as well. 

"….Maybe we should meet at Jasumin Lake?" He suggested, "I would be nice to see the lake before we go…."

Caius' ebony black hair fell in front his face. He reached up and tucked the hair behind his ear. Animals and gorgeous plants were said to grow well and wild around the lake. The jewelry maker had been hoping to see them. However, he did not want to pressure either of them to decide to go somewhere that would be inconvenient. After this conversation he would head out to gather materials for tomorrow morning. To ensure that they had more than enough supplies for the journey. Even if it was a quick journey. 

The impromptu conversation didn’t continue much beyond that point, but then there wasn’t much left to talk about anyway. Everyone was quick to finish their introductions (or begin them, in Ardea’s case), and then it seemed like the whole group was about to disperse of their own volition. Ardea wanted to go off on her own, and Caius gave an obvious goodbye like he had places to go before tomorrow morning.  Both parties also confirmed with Lucina that they would be properly prepared for her teleportation anomalies, so everything but location was sufficiently squared away in a short amount of time.

“Good… good,” the eavesdropper-now-friend commented once these facts were made evident to her, and she continued with her own suggestion for a place to meet before Ardea was out of earshot. “Let’s meet at the point of the lake closest to the bridge from these gardens at noon. That way I have a general area and time to go by.”

Contrary to unpopular belief, it is actually quite hard for a blind person to pick a face out of a vast landscape like the lakes, so Lucina wasn’t joking when she said she needed a general area to find them in. The air of the gardens that night was so thick with perfume and cologne that she could barely make out the scents of the two companions in front of her. It was certainly not enough to track them with, so, hopefully, they would listen to her on the morrow and stick out like a sore thumb.

Regardless, the young genie’s own reason for temporarily leaving her makeshift group soon made itself evident. As if on cue, her stomach let out an audible rumble, signifying her need to attend to the buffet two floors above them. As such, she gave a final farewell to the land-bound people for the night, and then floated up to feast her little heart out.

“Well, hunger calls,” she said just before wandering off that night, “I’m going to go stuff my face now, but I’ll see you tomorrow!”