Stasis (Natsume thread with others)

[Halbarad]

There's no answer except for the slight echo of her own voice. The light in her hand illuminates the hallway outside, a few paintings adorning the walls. The hallway ends several dozen yards to her left, and connects to the main hallway in the other direction. Several other rooms branch off that the swordswoman can see, all with open doors.

[Midnight Sun]

"Wonderful, I guess I should've paid more attention to where I was going when Usagi-san brought me here," she mumbles. "Hm, I suppose I can just wait for her to come get me..."

After a bit of thought she decides to simply pick a direction and walk.

"Hm, right looks nice."

[Halbarad]

A few minutes of walking is all it takes to get hopelessly lost, unfortunately. You remember coming up a set of stairs, and through a maze of hallways and small rooms, and now you have no idea where in the world you are. One thing catches your eye, though, as you round a corner. To your right, you can see a balcony overlooking the palace gardens below, while to your left, a tall pair of double doors - currently open - lead into another room, and a large one from the looks of it. A crescent moon sigil is carved into the lintel above the doorway, and you can glimpse a couple of pillars within.

[Midnight Sun]

"Wonderful that didn't take long," Natsume says to herself. "I should've known, in a place this big it'd take record time for me to completely lose my sense of direction."

After surveying her current location, to determine exactly where the hell she was, she spots the balcony and large room to her right and left.

"I don't think getting a look at the gardens is going to help me out any," she assumes as she decides on left.

[Halbarad]

The room in question lights up as you enter it, a series of globes much like the one in your hand - although much larger - lighting up along the ceiling. This hall is magnificent - gracefully fluted marble columns reaching up to support a ceiling high overhead, with a large skylight opening onto the starry expanse of space above. Several sculptures line the hall, and a raised dais sits at the far end - currently bare, but it's not hard to imagine the throne that should fit there.

Two doorways lead from the room, from the end nearest the dais; one is dark, while the other is lighted - and did you just hear a noise in that direction?

[Midnight Sun]

"Man...this is starting to feel like one of those Choose Your Own Adventure games...," Natsume says as she walks closer to the empty platform, trying to discern where the noise is coming from. "Maybe behind one of these doors? But which one?"

[Halbarad]

There's definitely a noise, coming from the room on your right. Sounds like papers shuffling around - very faint, but it becomes clearer as you get closer to the doorways.

[Midnight Sun]

"Hmm, right it is then," she decides. She slowly walks over to the rightmost door, being careful not to make any sounds. She lightly grasps the doorknob, slowly opens the door and....

[Halbarad]

Inside is a rather spacious study, with bookshelves lining most of the walls. The floor is of a pure white marble with several understated rugs covering much of the surface; the room itself is mostly occupied by a VERY large desk. Stacks of paper - looking very disorganized - are much in evidence, and behind the desk, scribbling away at something, is Usagi. She's intent enough on her work that she doesn't notice you come in, poring over a large, unrolled sheaf of papers on the desk.

[Midnight Sun]

"U...Usagi-san," Natsume says in surprise, more at the large stacks of papers than Usagi herself. "W...what are you doing?"

[Halbarad]

Usagi glances up in surprise. "Oh, Natsume! I didn't hear you come in!" She motions the other girl into the room, standing up. She's no longer in her royal garb, now dressed in a pink sweater and a pale green skirt. "I couldn't sleep myself, and I was too jumpy to stay with Ami-chan - she's still out, and Artemis is with her. So I came up here to try to get some work done."

[Midnight Sun]

"Ah, I'm sorry for disturbing you," Natsume apologizes sheepishly. "What...kind of work are you doing?"

[Halbarad]

"It's no trouble, really - I'm just going over the palace blueprints to see what I need to work on fixing next. Again." She sighs, running a hand through her hair. "Did you need anything? I could use a break right now, to tell the truth - I'm mostly trying to keep myself from worrying too much about Ami, really."

[Midnight Sun]

"Eheh, actually, I kind of got lost and wandered here by accident," Natsume admitted. "But...since you're here...I guess there is something I wanted to talk to you about."

She fidgets a bit, not quite sure how to ask what she wanted to ask.

"I...wanted to ask you a favor," she continued. "Theres something I want, something only you can give me..."

[Halbarad]

Usagi raises an eyebrow, setting down her pen. "Hmm? A favor? What did you have in mind?"