"He says won't take you."
Lucy's eyes went wide at the thug's words, her hand dramatically flinging itself over her heart. She clutched at the delicate fabrics of her bright pink dress, as if it had suddenly given out — and considering such heinous news, it might as well have.
The man before her gave no reaction to her dramatics. He was a short, chubby man with a bald head and a beard that touched the tavern floor — his beady eyes locked on Lucy, restraining thoughts of debauchery in his head. Lazily, he chewed on his piece of tobacco as a cow would on its cud, rolling his eyes at La'marri's one and only beggar princess. Was such news really so surprising?
"Well, why not?" Lucy pleaded, grabbing the thug by the collar and shaking him back and forth. The thug narrowed his eyes at her, his scarred face quickly turning into an unamused frown, but the beggar princess didn't seem to pay his reaction any mind. "Doesn't he realize that he's my only ticket out of here? I've only got one shot to leave and... if I don't leave then... then..."
Oh no, she didn't even want to think about what would happen if she was stuck here forever... What would her poor peasants think, if she never came back to rule over her kingdom again? She was sure that whoever stole her throne from her definitely wasn't a benevolent sort of ruler at all... How could they be, if they had left her to rot in this shady little town? If she was being honest though, she had gotten used to La'marri... but there's no place like home, right?
As the thug sighed, Lucy slowly let go of his collar, before rushing across the tavern to the bar, trying her very hardest not to well up in front of the bartender. It was he who had been keeping good care of Lucy since she ended up here, but now...
"Hey, Randall, what gives?" she demanded, hands on her hips, giving him her very best pout. Randall, a black-haired, clean cut man, knew that it'd be best to let her talk before interjecting... "You-you promised me that you were going to take off this week so you could take me to Serendipity! And I just heard Mac tell me that you weren't going to! That you weren't going to!" Repetition was always the best way to make a point. "I thought you were going to help me! I was going to make you an honorary knight when I got back..."
"Something came up." Lucy waited for more of an explanation, but that was it. Just 'something came up.'
"Well, when will the something that came 'up,' go back 'down'?" He did not respond, but continued to clean the same glass that he was cleaning over and over and over... When the pink-haired one realized that this was all she was going to get, she dug around in her messenger bag, bringing out various maps of their world and holding them out on the table, promptly annoying those who were drinking at the bar. She was tossed the usual looks of annoyance, and calls of 'hey, what do you think you're doing?' and such, but they were all ignored.
"You see, if my kingdom is in this world, then I've narrowed it down to a couple of places where it could be... Hyoite's too cold, I think, and Thantos is too... too weird..." She bit her lip, truly in deep thought. "I don't know about Adela, but it's still a possibility! In the end though, I really think my kingdom is somewhere in Serendipity..."
"Lucy, I can't take you." He spoke yet again, and finally he put down the glass he had been cleaning, looking her dead in the end. "Unless you know for sure, I can't take off from work just to help you find your kingdom... Times are hard. We're not all lost princesses like you are."
"But!" She groped for better words. "But! But! You caaaaan't!" She waved her maps about, utterly shocked. "When I find my kingdom, you'll be an honorary knight and you won't have to worry about money again! It's a good investment of your time, isn't it? A great one! Totally great! You have to help! I can't get there by myself... You know what people do to helpless princesses like myself!"
But after everything, he still would not entertain the idea. Lucy found her eyes welling up, her amethyst gaze still defiant as she turned away from him, putting up her best front. "Fine!" she hissed, turning towards the tavern door. "See if I care!"
As she walked out of the tavern door, however, she ended up bumping smack dab into someone, and as she did, she let out a squeal of fright. Her maps tumbled to the floor, some of them dancing in the wind, others rolling across the floor, as if they were glad to finally be free of the beggar princess. Lucy, however, was more concerned with the innocent person she had almost mauled over.
"Omigosh, I'm sorry!" She patted the person on the shoulders, as if checking to see as if she was till intact. "I'm such a klutz, really, please forgive me!" After all, people couldn't think she was a horrible person! How would that look to her peasants when she finally got back to her kingdom?