Private Finished Research

Claudius

He worked quietly, fingers ghosting over the spines of books to make sure that all was where it should be. Claudius felt at home among them, hiding himself in the back of the bookstore where few visited for very long. Some of the older, dustier books made this their final resting place, covers barely peaking out of the shadows of the shelves.

When he heard the sound of footsteps, Claudius held himself still, sinking into the quiet shade. When they came closer, his heart began to pound but he had locked himself into this corner and there was no escape. The person rounded into the nook that Claudius had been organizing, a seemingly human young man.

Claudius went still as he was addressed, not relaxing even when he heard the subject matter. "There aren't, aren't many books on those," he said quietly, clumsily tripping over his own tongue. "But what, what did you want to know?"

Claudius

Warily, Claudius took the paper from the young man, reading over it slowly. His heart skipped a beat at Cornelius's name. "Oh," he said quietly. "Oh, this, this person before you cannot possibly be of much help to, to you. It has been a very long time," he continued, trailing off into silence. But the young man still looked as if he wanted to have some sort of answer. Claudius supposed that he should not have volunteered for the tournament if he really wanted to avoid people as he normally did.

"Culturally, Regalia are diverse," Claudius said slowly. "Some were once spirits of the world or spirits of the dead. Their past lives affect their existence as Regalia somewhat. The pacts, pacts are temporary unless, unless the two partners choose otherwise. Cornelius," he said before stopping completely. He fidgeted for a few moments. "Cornelius is, is considered special among our kind. The pacts are not something that is usually done. Mainly, mainly the Regalia simply protect their charges as they can."

Claudius

"This, this person was once very well acquainted with Cornelius," Claudius stuttered. "But that was a long time ago so this person before you cannot tell you much of him." Anxiously, he looked at the young man, hoping that he would not press that subject any further.

"Regalia are, are guardian spirits, yes," he said. "Spirits who gave up their original purpose in order to become guardians instead."

Claudius

"Here? Just, just a few years," Claudius said, unsettled by the stream of questions. "It's, it's nice. This person knows one of the owner's cousins."

"Oh, oh they didn't protect anything before," he continued. "Regalia who were once something else, they were nature spirits, maybe even spirits of the dead. Any, anything really. They had to choose to give it up to become Regalia."