"Mina Hakuba," Mina introduced herself, settling into her chair. A moment latter a golden waiter hovered expectantly near, and she quickly ordered a fruit salad, fishing for the few coins she had left after paying for her hotel room.

Hayate's description of the broken pendant made her pause for a moment. "My talisman?" If her special token had shattered, then Soma could be in a lot of trouble-- and the people of Paixao in even more. Nonetheless... she took a deep breath and nodded slowly.

"That would explain why he seems more upset than usual... But it's okay," she added quickly to Soma. "This city is full of bright things, I can get you another one and charm it even better this time. I've gotten quite a bit of practice."

Her fruit salad arrived, and she thanked the waiter before turning back toward her friend. "Maybe... maybe one of the paper charms I was using to practice will help until I can find you another piece of jade?"

It wouldn't be quite as resiliant to damage as the necklace had been, but it was only a temporary fix anyway, and Mina was sure she could find another bit of jade to make a new talisman with-- after all, the people of Paixao had decorated their entire city with precious material made to look like foliage, and she'd seen more than a few golden trees with sticks and leaves broken off. It didn't seem so much to be stealing as it did to be the people were offering their goods to the newcomers.

Anything was better than nothing at this point, that much was certain. Even a paper charm would help.