The Azorean Past [Rinna/Gran]

Mae looked out the window of her room back at the dorms with a bored expression. She had a hard time believing it had almost been three weeks now since she had arrived at the dorms. And the weather was proof of how much time really had passed. All the snow that had been falling during her first two weeks was almost completely gone. All that remained was that slushly goo that was the Half-Snow-Half-Water state that usually covered the streets for a couple of days after the snow started to melt... She had gotten here right at the very butt end of January, and now... It was almost March. Time certainly had a strange habbit of flying out the window faster than ever before... Or maybe her sense of time had been slightly warped due to how much of her life had changed in such a short period of time... To think that all of this started right after watching that broadcast on the internet was still astounding for the pink haired girl.

"Well... I can't just sit here and do nothing. Let's see here... What to do today...?" Mae looked at her "To-do List" for the week. Come to think of it, there was one place in San Malarus she had yet to visit... Alongside the radio tower of course, but that was a place she had no buissness going to anyway. But the museum on the other hand... Mae barely knew anything about Azores history, and she was doubtful it was a subject she would be taught at Zela anyway. With her mind made up, she carefully crossed "The Azorean History Museum" off the list, and then the girl exited her room and headed straight for San Malarus.  

The half molten snow slushed underneath her boots as Mae made her way towards the museum. This was the one thing she disliked about the winter... When the snow started to melt. This slushly brown goop was just nasty and dirty. But it was a necessary evil, for Springtime was her favorite time of the year. It was mostly due to the Cherry Blossoming that Mae liked that paticular season so much, with all the pink trees in beautiful bloom. Ah, how she missed Japan. Azores had it's own set of charms though which Mae liked. Penecia was a beautiful location in general, and the sort of tropical style the place had was something the pinkette was quite fond of. She had yet to see the other three islands of Malstu, Standasen and Lunapa, so it was still a bit soon to judge whether she liked it here better or not.

Mae came to a sudden stop outside a large, impressive building. // I guess this is it, huh? // The girl took a step forward, openend the large doors, and entered the museum. The inside wasn't that much out of the ordinary when it came to Museums. Behind the counter sat a girl not much older than Mae herself. What could she be... Like 20, 21 years old? Regardless, being the social butterfly that she is, Mae approached the girl. She didn't seem busy at the moment... Hopefully that was true... "Umm... Excuse me?" Mae made an attempt at grabbing the employee's attention.

"Hehe, thanks. I guess I should introduce myself too. I'm Mae Iharu. Nice to meet you!" The pinkette said with a bright smile, as she accepted the map given to her by Rinna. She took a quick glance at it. The place was positively massive in size. Multiple floors too, it seemed. It would be difficult to navigate this complex place on your own, even with a map. It was no stretch to say that this museum was like a maze... With staircases going up and down everywhere between floors.

"Oh, I was wondering if there are any scheduled tours of the museum?" Mae asked Rinna. "I don't know much about Azores in general, since I'm a transfer student at Zela, if you couldn't guess by my name, hehe." The girl smiled sheepishly. "Did you used to be a student there? If I had to guess, you graduated not too long ago, right?" Rinna did look quite young, so her claim wasn't that far-fetched. Then again, she had been wrong before. Age related to looks was very ambiguous, especially among girls.

"Oh, well, I just turned 19 myself, actually." Mae smiled at Rinna happily. She was just three years older than herself. "I think I'll take the guided tour... If I wandered off on my own, I'd probably just get lost." The girl said, scratching the back of her head. "I guess it must be nice to have a place to work at so soon after finishing school, huh? I dunno how easy it is getting a job here in Azores, but it's getting tougher and tougher for us young adults to get a real job." It's a bit of an odd subject, but hey, it's something?

"So, are you in charge of the tours here?" Mae nodded towards Rinna. She didn't see any other staff members around at present. But they might just be out for a short coffee break or something for all she knew.

"Really? Mind showing me around sometime then if you don't have the time today? Sorry if it's an odd request..." Mae smiled sheepishly. Rinna seemed friendly enough. And to top it off, she was a girl, which was odd for her not to have befriended any girls yet, so why not now? Besides, this was a prime opportunity to learn more about this island. The next two years of her life was going to be spent here on this island, so she might as well get to know the place well while staying here, right?

"Wait, you're the only supervisor here today? That's gotta be stressful. Now that I think about it, there's very little staff around here... Is there something going on, or is this just commonplace here?" Mae hadn't been to many museums before, so she had no real grasp on how things were handled in places like these, but you would think there would be more supervisors in a large museum like this one...

"Well, can you honestly blame them after everything that's been going on recently? I know, it's not an excuse to skip work, but people are afraid." Yeah, things were definatley off about this island. First, the broadcast, then her own kidnapping and awakening... Yeah... things were definetly strange around here. I guess it's only a facade of some sort. Deep down they are probably terrified about all this... I know I was when I watched it. Some of my friend's names were listed..." Her voice trailed off. Whoever did this girl on the broadcast think she was anyway? You can't just disclose information like that to the general public! Of course people were scared. "anything you find interesting."

"That's very true. It's difficult to muster it up though. Makes you wanna go out and do something about it, you know?" Sure, Mae had the means to do so... She just... lacked... well... resolve. Something to truly fight for. Something to keep her fighting when things get rough... A reason to fight for something other than just her own survival. And right now... Mae lacked one.

"The Relics does sound interesting..." Mae thought for a moment before clapping her hands together, smiling. "Alright, It's decided. The Lasyian Ruin Relics it is!"

"Y-yeah..." It was just a matter of... doing it. Just jumping head-first into danger wasn't exactly Mae's forté. She disliked violence, but sometimes it was a necessity... And Mae doubted very strongly that shadows listened to reason. "Thanks." Mae grinned happily, and took the booklet. "Mhm!" After nodding, Mae went over to the staircase, sat down, and started reading, waiting for the tour to begin.

"Mm! Have a nice day, Rinna! Thanks for all the help." Mae perked up, gave her a warm smile. This woman was very brave, taking a stand in a situation like the one unfolding on Azores. Maybe, just maybe... Rinna had affected Mae somewhat. Not on a profound level, but at least she had given Mae inspiration to look for whatever she needed to keep fighting. The world was changing. And it seemed it wasn't changing in any way better... But with people like Rinna around, maybe, just maybe, they could lead the masses in the right direction. You can always hope, right?

Mae looked at the Tour Guide after saying goodbye to Rinna Laurerdale. // Rinna... Gotta remember that name. She's a good person. // If nothing else, she at least got to learn a whole bunch of stuff about Azores, so that was a huge plus. Now, that's one piece of sightseeing down. Plenty more to go... Woohoo...

~ Exit