Something to Ask

Jude wasn't quite done. Not yet. He'd met Wind's Respite--a kindly older woman who seemed distinctly uncomfortable with the whole thing--and they'd gotten along pretty well. By the tournament rules, he was supposed to start gunning for other people (Broen? Rory? Anyone?), but instead he'd gone a different direction entirely.

He wanted to find Choróin. The Regalia of the Attending Saint. They were a regalia, and that meant Jude had a big, big question.

He'd gone to find them the day after he'd first met them, which meant it was a bit of a longshot. He'd been keeping his eye out, warily watching for the very obvious hair, with Wind's Respite tagging along... maybe just for another hour.

He kept the pace down so he didn't get tired. Could she even get tired? A question for another day.

In the distance, heading out of the school, Jude spotted the man he was looking for, heading towards them and giving a wave of his arm.

"Mr. Choróin?" Jude called.

It felt weird. Kind of like he was intruding. Because despite his original thoughts, the Regalia were more like... people. People who could give their abilities to friends. They had lives, and personalities, and names.

Which meant Cornelius probably did as well, and Jude politely nodded as he approached, slowing to a stop as he considered his questions.

"Hi," Jude said, trying to sound friendly and upbeat and not nervous, because he knew everything Cornelius could do. "I actually, uh, had a question about the tournament. If I'm not intruding."

By that point Wind's Respite had drawn up behind him, giving Cornelius a formal curtsy as she did.

"Well, not so much about the tournament. I actually wanted to know if all the Regalia on the island are part of the tournament."

Well, that was the answer he'd expected. They'd left, if they weren't going to be involved. And those who were involved may or may not stick around at their pleasure once it was all done.

But that left his more important question, and Jude took a moment to steel himself, with Broen's ever present you're never going to have a one hundred percent perfect track record when you try shit ringing in his ears.

Better to try.

"Are you bonded with someone?"

Jude suspected he was, and he suspected that whoever he was bonded with was probably pretty important.

So they weren't. They were just running it on their own, or compelled by someone elses force. He considered that, pondering for a moment before nodding.

"Alright. I wanted to know... well, if you were running it, or if you were running it on someone's behalf, basically." Simple enough, and he felt like saying so.

"I don't suppose you've got any tips?"

Jude actually kind of liked being bored with details. Like, that was kind of his thing.

But he shrugged.

"I don't know how much I'm planning to win, really," Jude admitted. "But I'm curious to see the challenges that I'm going to have to face. But I did want to ask. So..." Jude paused, then gave a little bow.

"Thanks for answering my questions. I'll leave you to your work though."