Chapter 4: In Town, Part 2
After Iniabi and Cynthia returned to the inn, the group discussed sleeping arrangements.
"Well, there are only three beds, if you count the couches, so that means two of us will have to share. It's probably best we split up in twos and share the same beds, and that Iniabi and Cynthia get the large bed, since they are married. Iniabi, do you want to share it with Cynthia, or do you want to bunk with either me or Jakob, while the girls take the other two beds?" Corrin asked.
"Well, I think Jakob might 'accidentally' skewer me in my sleep if me or Cynthia slept anywhere within five feet of him, so I think we'll be fine on the bed. But for now, you've had a long day and deserve the best rest possible. You can sleep on the couch furthest from my and Cynthia's room, so Jakob doesn't stay awake glaring at us all night." Iniabi replied.
Is that fine?" Cynthia asked.
Jakob frowned.
"That's... fine. Thank you." Jakob replied, suspicious of their actions. He then turned to Corrin and asked "Do you require anything before bed, Lord Corrin?".
"No, and stop with the Lord, Jakob. We're friends, aren't we?" Corrin asked.
"Of course." Jakob replied.
The group then dispersed to their respective places of rest, with Iniabi and Cynthia moving to the bed in the first room, Jakob and Felicia moving to the couch in the second room, and Corrin and Azura moving to the couch in the third room. Corrin, Azura, and Felicia fell asleep quickly, with their breaths evening out after just a few minutes. Meanwhile, Jakob took about half an hour, most of which he spent staring at both Iniabi and Cynthia, part of which he spent making sure Corrin was asleep, and the rest of which he actually tried to sleep.
Iniabi and Cynthia, however, were both awake the entire time. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't fall asleep, and the two weren't even tired. After three hours of laying down, they decided to get up and try to assess what they had on them. Their eyes had adjusted enough to the darkness, so they could see enough to take stock of their items. Surprisingly, their stock revealed that they had nothing. Aside from Falchion, Erebus, and Cynthia's lance, they had no elixirs, concoctions, or even vulnerary, which they knew they had before the mayhem at the Outrealm Gate. But they still had the same clothing they wore before getting sucked into the vortex, and Iniabi's Mark of Naga was still on his right hand, along with a Divine Brand he had on his left shoulder. But what was surprising, or rather alarming, was that he now had the Mark of Grima on his left ankle, glowing just slightly in the complete darkness, despite the fact that Robin (F) had killed Grima back in 2012 and Maleficent had killed the Fell Dragon again during the war. But besides that, Jakob had enough reason not to trust him or Cynthia, and the two figured a glowing sigil on his ankle and two marks on his right hand and left shoulder wouldn't help, so Cynthia stayed in bed, while Iniabi got up and headed for the door. It then occurred to him that Jakob was a light enough sleeper to wake at the sound of the door, and that disappearing in the night while his wife stayed behind was really suspicious, so Iniabi wrote a note explaining that he was going out to get some tea from a shop Corrin had pointed out on the way to the inn to help him sleep. It wasn't that great of an excuse, but it was what he had.
"Location: Fates Continent, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, February 20th 2013"
Shortly after leaving his room and the inn, Iniabi found himself in front of a clothing store that was still open, despite being well past midnight and only a few hours away from sunrise. Inside was a girl of about 25 years who seemed as though she was struggling to stay awake
"Excuse me, miss, but do you sell gloves by any chance?" Iniabi asked, startling the woman fully awake and into an upright position.
He hoped he hadn't been too rude, but as he knew, he looked suspicious in his Tactician coat, which happened to be covered in strange symbols and markings.
"Oh, um... hello, sir. Yes, we do. What color would you like?" the girl asked warily.
She likely thought he was trying to cause trouble, or maybe that he was from Nohr, if the way Jakob spoke of their clothing was any indication. It was obvious that they didn't fit in with the local style.
"Black would be preferable, but what do you recommend?" Iniabi asked.
"We have black, but we also have a nice purple fabric that goes with the outfit you have on. If you want, I can make a pair with a base of black and some purple design to it." the girl replied.
She seemed a little less uncomfortable, but was still wary of the blue haired man before her.
"Okay, but that requires sizing. I don't want to take up your time." Iniabi said, wanting to just grab random gloves and leave before anyone woke up and noticed he was missing.
"No, I insist! I only have to measure one hand, and do a few alterations to some premade gloves." the girl said.
"Uh, sure, then. Here you go." Iniabi said.
He held out his right hand, and she got out a few strips of ribbon. She wrapped it around his fingers, palm, and wrist, and made a few markings before taking the strip to a worktable behind the counter, where she pulled out some fabric, not premade gloves as she had said, and got to work. A few times, she went back over to Iniabi and made some more measurements or wrapped something partway around his hand, but it wasn't as complicated as he thought. She must have been quite skilled, as it took much less time then the blue haired man thought it would. She used a fabric that looked like leather, but couldn't have been because it was a different texture, and in no time, she had a pair of gloves ready.
"Oh, thank y..." Iniabi started to say.
"Wait, I'm not done! I have to make two more!" the girl said.
"Two? I'm not sure I have the money to pay for two..." Iniabi started to say.
He stopped when he realized he probably didn't have money to even pay for one pair of gloves. He had some coins on him, but he didn't know if the currency was the same between Ylisse and Hoshido. It was a miracle that they and the Nohrians spoke the same language. Here, he had no idea how anything worked. He recognized what a shop looked like, the animals that were around, and some of the plants, but there was so much more he didn't. He would have to look around for a library or bookstore, but that was only after he confirmed he had valid money and enough to pay for the gloves, as well as a bunch of books. He and Cynthia would also have to buy bags, spare weapons, basic survival tools, a few concoctions, vulneraries, and health equipment.
"Here you go! Three beautiful pairs of gloves!" the girl exclaimed.
As she had just said, she held three pairs of good looking gloves in her hands.
"I thought you said you had two more to make." Iniabi said.
"Yes, two more pairs. I already told you that when you were spacing out. You see, I couldn't decide which design to make, so I made all three. Plain black gloves are an essential part of someone's wardrobe, so I made those. Then, I thought that even though they are essential, they are also a bit boring, so I lengthened the second pair to about elbow length and made them purple, to add a bit more color to your outfit, and added the design on your coat to the palms of the gloves. Then, I thought that purple with a black palm is better but still pretty boring, so I made this third pair. Their beautiful, aren't they?" the woman asked.
She handed the gloves to Iniabi. They truly were impressive to look at, and the fabric they were made of was impressive too. They seemed like they'd be comfortable, yet durable, which made Iniabi more worried that it would make the price soar up. Not only would it be hard to sell, as they were custom made so no one would want them, but one pair had the eyes of Grima (not in the form of the sigil on his ankle, but rather just a single eye as seen on his coat) on them, and he really didn't want to be distributing that to the public. It was fine for his style, but he didn't want more evidence of his lineage floating around if he could help it.
"Here, let me get out my wallet." Iniabi said.
He reached into his pocket to grab some of the coins he had. He dropped a few on the counter, before reaching into his pocket and dropping a few more as well. The saleswoman thanked him, grabbed the coins, and put his gloves in a bag. It had only taken about 150, which surprised him because since the gloves were of such high quality, he was worried they would be 150 each. Or, they were worth 150 Ylissean pieces, since he wasn't sure what the conversion was. They were unmarked golden pieces, so it wasn't as if they had someone in them that wouldn't exist in this place or time and thus be invalid, but he was still worried.
He thanked the woman, slipped on the black gloves, and walked around the town some more. When he finally noticed a building with books visible through the window, he went up to it, only to find that the building's doors were locked. He looked up at the moon and realized that the sun would be up soon, and since Jakob had left the curtains open, he would definitely be caught if he didn't go back right away. He had a problem with getting caught up in things and losing track of time, especially when it came to books, so he figured he was better safe then sorry. And the building was locked, so he couldn't have entered without breaking in, which he wasn't about to do. Soon, Iniabi found himself back in his room, completely unnoticed, and he noticed that Cynthia was finally asleep. He had placed the note in a way it would be blown away by the movement of Jakob's cover with a little piece of string over the underline that would have fallen into the dark carpet and stayed unnoticed and undisturbed, had Jakob woken up and put everything back in an attempt to trick the tactician king. But nothing was any different, so he knew he was safe. The innkeeper was asleep at the counter both when Iniabi left and when he came back, so he was safe in case Jakob tried to ask someone at the desk if he or Cynthia had done something either. All in all, it was a successful trip.
An hour later, Iniabi got up, stretched and stumbled as if he was still a bit sleepy but had woken up on his own, and made himself some of the coffee that came with the room. While waiting for the water to boil, Jakob woke up and looked straight at his only male companion.
"Good morning, Iniabi. What are you doing up so early? And what are you making?" Jakob asked, his eyes partially squinted.
"I woke up just a few minutes ago, when the sun started reflecting off the mirror and into my eyes. And I'm just making some coffee. I wasn't sure when you or the others would be waking up, so I've put enough only for myself to boil, since I didn't want it to get cold while you five slept. I can boil some more once I finish mine if you want." Iniabi replied.
"No, no, I'll take care of that, thank you very much. But would it be alright if I intercepted that water and made tea for Lord Corrin with it? He's had a very trying experience the last few days." Jakob asked.
"I guess so, but wouldn't you rather have it so he gets some more sleep and rest, rather then having him wake up now for a drink he can just get later and is tired for the rest of the day? If we are going anywhere, then we need to be in the best shape possible, and getting a good night's rest after a stressful event is an essential part of any traveler's life." Iniabi replied.
Jakob frowned, and saw to making his bed and sitting down with an annoyed expression until around 8, when Azura came out of her room. She said good morning to the two men in front of her, sat at the table, and simply watched the clouds pass by outside the window with a thoughtful expression on her face. Jakob finally made some tea, and then went to wake Corrin. He, Felicia, and Cynthia joined them a little later. They didn't speak much, and a few minutes later, the group of six left the inn.