Yue scrambles to her feet just in time to meet Qiu's stance. She's barely got enough time to unsheathe her own sword, which by the way she is super not used to since every other time she's needed a sword she's either already been holding it or it's been a matter of fishing it out of her bag (which for whatever reason feels smoother than more comfortable than pulling it out of something made just for it). Anyway barely enough time to fumble it out of there and take her own stance before the whirlwind descends on her. She doesn't know a thing about kendo, so she picks a pose out of her own lessons instead. Sword held high above her head, tilted down to defend her face and body, her passive leg lifted and tucked behind the knee of her dominant one.

It's flashy and inefficient, probably maybe. Definitely the first, can't say about the second. Doesn't seem like it'd be very good for hitting people though, does it? That's 'cause it's not. The point of Yue's... I think she calls it her "crane stance" is to be pretty. To be a beautiful thing for your opponent to chase, to be specific. She doesn't pick it to be a sillyhead or disrespect Qiu. She doesn't pick it because she's inexperienced or overwhelmed. She didn't make a mistake. She chose it to remind herself that it's not her place to attack. In fact if she tries right now she'll lose the second she does. Not the good kind of losing either, where you still have fun and learn a lot and then keep going, which is the kind of losing she experiences with Chen. But the bad kind of losing, where a door slams shut in her face forever and maybe Princess Yin has to trample everybody else's dreams to open it back up again after all.

Those're the stakes. Nothing major, right? No biggie! It's the perfect sized duel for a young maiden in her first real battle with a full-on capital P Princess. Isn't it?

"Who, me? I'm! Eep! Oh gosh! I'm... Yue? I don't, I'm sorry, is that not good enough? What else am I, eep! Supposed to be?"

Yue's blade, at least, is an equal of Qiu's. Of course it is, it belonged to a legendary, truly incomparable hero. Even if history erased her name (as sad as that is), her heart lives on inside this beautiful unbending blade. The arms holding it may be scrawnier and less certain, but the blade is still aligned with them and their ideals. If, or rather when Yue loses a fight it will never ever ever be because her weapon wasn't a match for her opponent's. With that said, even though she's focused on dodging, even though she only flashes her sword for tiny graceful parries that kiss her sword along the edge of Qiu's and slide prettily down the length of it so that she can twist and hop away, her shoulders quiver under the power of the blows she's dancing past. Her arms feel like jelly from the electricity of it all. And this isn't even Princess Qiu with her heart shining bright and fulfilled! This isn't her, Yue, bravely blocking and overpowering a strike with her footwork and her breathing and the power of her wishing heart. She's just! She's dodging! All she's doing! Is getting out of the way! And it's still! Eeep! Like this!

Lemme come to her defense for a second real quick, though. It's gotta look like she's flounderin' up there, doesn't it? Her lil' twig arms are weak and her answer was squeaky and unsure where Princess Qiu's declaration was as bold and pretty as it was haughty. But that's a habit of hers. If you mistake it for genuine weakness she'll whip your sorry booty right off your cutie hips, Qiu. Watch her, she'll surprise you. See, she could have answered thusaways:

'I am Yue, of the Terraced Lake! I am the Wolf of the Sky Castle! I tame beasts and turn their teeth to soft kisses! I plucked the thorn from the paw of the tiger that was scarin' the whole village. I swam in the river late one night, even though that's where demons live, and let it wash me to the waterfall so I could take a bath. I gained the trust of monster from the ancient world before the suns were broken! I helped a princess learn to love herself again! I loved a wolf so much I became one just to help her! And when the time came I threw off that curse completely, just to kiss her!'

She could say that. She could say a heckuva lot more. She could even:

'I'm Yue! Just Yue! And that is more than enough for me to be! Ffffff... uhhhhh, hec... spankies for you if you think that it's not! Why shouldn't it be?! When a storm comes ragin' I put on the kettle for tea to welcome it! If I catch fire then I'll learn to dance like it does! I don't need a sunshard, I don't even need to be strong! Because I know how to light a fire without burning everything to ash! You, you... dummy!'

But she doesn't. Because in her head, all of deeds she might brag about feel to her like they belong as much or more to the people and creatures she did them with, and for. Because all of that heat feels rotten in her mouth, so how could she live with herself if she spit it at someone? After all, the question she got asked was 'who is she?' If she can't answer that question in her own way, she might as well just drop her weapon and let herself get cut in half right here.

...The Wandering Tales of Yue The Sun Farmer, Chapter Two. The second secret sword: Hey Sis, Do You Think They Have Tea Parties Everywhere?

Loving someone means watching them. Everything they do, so you don't miss a detail and you soak up every last bit of their perfection like toasted bread sopping up a smooth, creamy, delicious, mmmm... runny egg yolk. Goshies, am I drooling? I feel like I'm-- ahem! But when you watch someone that much and that deeply, you really do soak up their essence inside of yourself. It's more than basic mimicry, it's learning how they think so you can apply their form of problem solving to whatever kind of puzzle you find yourself in.

No more Crane Stance, now. No more petal dancing and barely dodging the incredible power of Princess Qiu. Now Yue crouches low, like a wolf. It's time to fight like Hyra does. Which is to say, she runs away. Shamelessly, in fact, and far enough away that it really does look like all she's after is abandoning her fight and her promise until all of a sudden she comes darting back inside of the Danger Zone, smirking and laughing with the secret humor of someone who's figured out a joke before anybody else. She runs away, and then she runs back. She dives, as though to strike, as though even to make that most powerful of tackles: the poumce, only instead to catch at least half a good smack on her cheek, her stomach, her thigh, or her back, and go tumbling through the air or bouncing off the dirt in the least graceful way it is possible for a human to do so.

She wonders how much longer it will take Qiu to notice that every time she's done this, she's also snipped away a little piece of that absurdly mopey black dress. Because if she doesn't figure it out pretty quick then the next time she bends swings her tail with that graceful but lightning-sharp-and-quick motions of hers, the whole thing's gonna tear and fall away from her in a pattern designed by ya girl. It won't be a dress anymore so much as an act of worship for her lovely scales and beautiful body. Yue giggles at the thought. And then imagining it makes her turn pink. Oh. Oh goshies!

Erm. A-anyway. There's, um. A bit more time before that happens. Yue's battlefield is a great circle, more of a track, or actually it's more of a dome because sometimes she'll borrow Chen instead of Hyra and lift away on her sword, riding it through the air while balancing on her tippy toes. But always in service to running the h*ck away, in giving herself time to recover between blows and continuing her grand heist. Always looking for the opportunity where her audience's eyes are just where she wants them to be. Which is to say, not where they need to be if they're to stop the magic trick from happening.

And she gets it. Her moment. She touches down on the ground with enough space between her and Qiu to get away with any move the wide world of martial arts or even anime could dream of. And she uses it... to plant her sword in the dirt. Stoop down. And carefully reseal the lids on the tupperware containers with the unfinished bread and eclairs still in them.

Yue, who is Just Yue, is sopping wet with sweat. Her hair doesn't know if it wants to frizz or flop, but her ponytail is close enough to being a dragonish whip to rival Qiu's tail that it might count as her first attempt at taking the threeshard princess into herself. Her body is a thing of dirt and cuts, and her legs and arms are having a contest to see which one of them can wobble harder. She stands up as straight as she can, and flashes a grin over at her dance partner.

"Huff... huff... hoo. You. Do everything. Too fast! Y'know that? You keep, huff, skipping steps! If you don't... sheesh... tone it down, every, every now and again, you're gonna. Miss out. See? Now c'mon. We dancin'? Or not? If you don't, oh gosh, let me see, your moves, I'm never gonna, hoooooooof... see how cool they are!"

She doesn't try to pry her sword back out of the ground. Right this second, to her noodle arms at least, it's as stuck in there as if pulling it free would grant her the right to rule an island or somethin'. But the smile she flashes at Qiu is magical. Like a rainbow in the middle of a thunderstorm. Like chasing a she-wolf that's been terrorizing the local landscape all the way to her den and discovering she's recently become a mother to a whole litter of adorable puppies. Like someone who's still dreaming of tea parties with the whole entire world.

You can come at her, Qiu. It's ok. It's ok! You can show her your very best, most astonishing or dazzling or beautiful or brutal or whatever kind of finishing move you like. Hit her with the power of three sunshards, or none. It's ok! It's... allowed, y'know? If you don't let her see, she can't show you in turn. The True secret sword, the one that's making her so brave right now. She really, actually, honestly, sillily thinks that she can win. Don't you wanna find out why?

Then show her! It's ok!

[Yue rolls Entice: 13]

Rosepetal doesn’t set her Chen down. One hand strokes along the back of Chen’s neck as she nimbly— up, up!— takes Chen up to meet the Pyre of Inspiration, taking great bounding steps like gravity is something she can ignore by simply wanting it to be so. So she comes to meet someone who is finding the world to be suddenly new and beautiful, and takes her by the hand, with all the solemnity of a monk and all the grace of a handmaiden.

“Princess Chen of the North Wind and her Rosepetal, reporting for duty, mistress,” she says. “However, I am happy to inform you that if you are willing to wait until after the battle to cash in the shares you own of me,” she says, with a playfulness, as if joking between friends, “I am authorized to extend our contract until such time as you are satisfied with our service.” No more hours. No more seconds shaved off. An openness, a shutting of the eyes and falling into her arms, trusting that she will be caught. “This special offer is only increased in value, because it comes along with a fox-certified master maid.”

No hiding in your Rosepetal, dear sweet Chen! She knows you want her to turn your head, to tilt your chin up, and make you look up at the Pyre. “That’s right! The second time I met her, she was displaying her core competencies by cleaning an entire shrine wearing the most darling little uniform, weren’t you, Chen?” And now look whose head is being nodded!

Rosepetal’s voice only becomes a little more serious while her little princess is busy overheating. “It’s just that this city and its safety is very important to Chen, and if she’s worried about it, she’ll be so clumsy, knocking over valuable vases with her skirt and tripping over her own heels and let’s not even get into all the things she’ll spill all over herself! And if she’s not worried, you’ll know that whenever she does that, it’s because she’s trying to be a naughty girl who needs Burrows discipline, just for you.”

She looks out at the walls of the city, the multicolored smoke and the assault ribbons, and squeezes Chen closer. Her Chen. Her defender, her treasure. “It’s your choice,” she says. Because if she doesn’t say it, if she tries to trick her and run rings around her, if she doesn’t treat the Pyre like a person who’s even more vulnerable right now than her Chen, then she’s betraying everything she still holds dear, all for the sake of Chen— and that would sink its fangs into the root of their love, a still-young tree still coming into its fruits. How could she meet Chen’s mothers knowing she was a traitor of innocence? How could she kiss Chen’s perfect lips knowing what she’d paid for them?

So she holds Chen tighter and her heart plummets, as if blindfolded, waiting to see if it will indeed be caught. If the dream she danced, here and now, was true. If the promise of the twilight on those purpled hills was true. If she can still bring happiness into the world.

Chen lets out a little murmur when her Rosepetal strokes the back of her neck. She can't help herself, it just feels so good, makes her want to melt right there and then. Gosh and in front of the Pyre. And a gathering crowd in the neighboring streets to boot! Ys was full of marvels, but a full on demon parade still stood out, nevermind the battle of titans. Oh gosh, the gossip about Princess Chen was going to spread like wildfire. Though then again, it would have been a shock if it hadn't already started making the rounds from the Sky Castle by now. Word always did travel fast in the shard queendoms.

Chen's running a little behind reality here, given how Rose is displaying her, how hard she's blushing, and doing her best to sit still and let herself be nodded without fidgeting or squirming in her handmaid's arms (she is failing, but doesn't she look soooo cute with the effort?). But eventually her head gets there and understands what Rose is offering and she adds her own eager nods to those prompted by her girlfriend. Because yes, with everything they were doing they had to treat the Pyre properly now. This wasn't a trick or a trap or any of those things, it was an honest offer. If that meant some work now, well, the city would hold up until they could talk to Yin, and Yue would too for that matter! And if not then all the better to do this when there wasn't a bunch of other stuff to do and she could have her mind entirely focused on being the best maid ever, which Chen was very good at thank you very much! All that sword skill made for plenty good arm skill, and if you might stumble from time to time, it was only because she was trying extra hard to put on the best show possible with the most precise movements. And because occasionally a maid needed to do something to help the mistress really feel in charge. That was just the right way to go about these things!

What Chen does say as Rose holds her up right to the Pyre, still blushing so red, is "Thank you for believing in us. We won't disappoint you!" and she adds to the show by picking up the bare shreds of her dress still remaining and offering a tiny little curtsey from atop Rosepetal's strong, sturdy arms.

Rose and Chen!

The Pyre of Meaning glances down at you, Rose, for but a moment. She rummages around thoughtfully in her pockets until she comes up with a large silk hankerchief, violet and patterned like stars. She looks at it thoughtfully, letting the fabric run over her hands.

"Shut," she said, "up."

And she crams it right into your talking mouth.

Certainly, she may have stepped up from being the Demon Queen of Ultimate Evil, but it's a long road from there to Shambala.

She lets her gaze snap across to Chen. "I don't need to hear another word about what needy, obedient little sluts you are. Marketing is the Eighty-Eighth Division of Hell and I've heard enough of it for a thousand lifetimes. Either you will prove capable of the task or I will find less prestigious uses for you. Now, I have a city to repair, so come along, quick smart."

Yue!

After all of this, after everything, who is Princess Qiu?

At first she comes at you like a hurricane - swift, sharp, decisive, dismissive, but still so floweringly brilliant it's hard to process. But nobody winds up with a combat style like that by accident. Somebody taught it to her, or she invented it to fight against specific opponents. And as you engage with Qiu you start to see that hurricane of faces and opponents passing by in each beat and opening move that's also a finishing move. This isn't how she is born to fight, this condensed and decisive power play. This is the record of a thousand duels that ended before she was ready. This is a fighting style born of disappointment, of the idea that she has to demonstrate her brilliant ultimate moves at the first possible second because it's the closest she can get to satisfying.

The range she has is enormous. She switches between styles in brilliant burning starts but there are no transitions. Again and again she explodes outwards and then stops in a kind of thoughtless surprise whenever you escape the technique. Again and again her blade asks: "Can you? Will you?" and she almost does not know what to do when the answer is "Yes!"

A cautious eye passes over you and, with creaking and rusty memories, she settles into a different stance. Low and sharp and braced against pain. And for the first time she starts a dance she's forgotten long ago.

You learned from wolves and shapeshifters and hurricanes; they are visible in your sword. Princess Qiu, for all her seeming solitude, learned from people too. This dance is a close one, an intimate one - she sweeps in close so that her blade is against your neck, even as yours is against hers. It's a frightening duel, one of intimacy and edge, sharpened and soulful stares lip almost to lip as free hands tease, distract, and search for daggers. Flinch away and you'll be cut, or worse, will be free of the blade. Everything is tension, hand in hand over the void, unbelievable danger and unrestrained, terrifying possibility. You can't fight like this and ever forget it. It's a level of trust that she's never felt before or since. And so in the end, Princess Qiu steps away from this embracing duel, though it's clear how much she yearns for it.

But beyond that she explodes into techniques of colour and vibrancy. Different opponents taught her this - brighter, more innocent. This is a style built in terrain, built in things, built in landscapes, and when she wields it Ys becomes her own. She tells narratives in temple stairs, the blade is less important than the window it gets kicked out of, then onto the back of a gondola to fight even as the waterfall comes ever closer! This is a blade to fight against a radiant world, stances for escapes and armies and constant motion. As dragon and as lion and as wolf! One as many against many who are many! No wonder armies cause her no fear! No wonder she can confidently besiege the city of Ys! She could fight them all like this, the spotlight that transforms the city into a stage and a girl into an army! Oh, she never forgot what it was to be a multitude!

But then time goes back one more step, and at last that unending momentum tapers to a halt. She sets her stance immovable and her face becomes grim and she advances. She advances past every strike and counter, a steady march that resists every attempt to divert or lead astray. You can sense intuitively that this opponent did not wield a blade - they swung a hammer. This was the way she was walking when you met her, the way she went to confront Princess Yin. It is a technique for fighting evil, immense and immeasurable. Even the world of her Shards are different here, their power pouring into you, casting you as ever a greater and darker demon queen. You have the ability to not just fight but to torment, you are not a rival but a god.

And she has a technique for killing gods too. She learned it from a Godkiller. This ancient, secret, foundational path which she never used before and can never use again. She isn't sure she'll ever fight someone like this again. Isn't sure she even wants to. But even as she strives against divine power she has become the center of the universe at last, the complete and utter object of focus for someone more powerful than her to test, to lead, to transform. In the deep, dark waters of this ultimate technique and original opponent Princess Qiu learned what it was to be everyone's everything, and the world itself did not survive their conflict.

But then that breaks too. On the other side of that immense and darkening moment is...

Two girls run at each other with swords. They don't know what they're doing. They hit each other much too hard. They cut each other. They say their lines and pound their chests and for a moment catch the eyes of those around them. It's not a good fight. They are too young and nobody taught them, and while it's wonderful for a while, it all ends in tears. These dance partners part acrimoniously and never see each other again.

Again and again, the duel ends and she never sees her opponents again.

She could have gone back. Could have apologized. Could have tried to settle down and be a normal friend to those people. But again and again she chose the blade, and so she passed through the heavens as a rogue sun, burning everything in her path. This is why she fights like she does. This is why she asks who are you, Yue. Because she's lost everybody who ever drew near to her and all she wants to know in this blissful, rapturous moment is how long she's going to have before she loses you too.

Princess Qiu is not a mythical person whose skill appeared fully formed. She, like you, learned from her battles with her friends. She stands before you now as a general in an army of ghosts.

Yue's been in all kinds of storms before, almost always on purpose. I mean, sometimes you're out on errands and it just starts to rain, but like, usually it's a choice you make to keep going and not just knock on someone's door or cozy up in a little cave or under a tree or whatever happens to be handy, y'know? The rain falls and the wind stings and you're just like... well, that medicine still needs gathering! Well, those tea leaves'll be ruined after this anyway! Well, I promised Ms. Water Deer I'd watch her children today! Well, I just plain don't feel like not dancing in the grove tonight! And so on, see? That's who Yue is.

One time she forgot what season she was in and she shrugged off the darkening clouds only to catch the fury of a summer storm, full of hail the size of a fox's paw. And Yue, she had nowhere to go but forward, so that's what she did. She dipped and ducked and dodged as best she could. She fought the sky with her umbrella and her silly wooden sword together, twin-blade style! Sometimes she was enough to avoid the falling ice, and other times it thwacked her so hard on the head or her back or her legs or her arms that she thought she was gonna die! There was no end to it, just Mama Sky unleashing blows so fast and furious she was helpless, like I said, to do anythin' but walk through 'em.

And so she did. And when she finally stumbled home she needed a blanket. And a very soft chair. And a bucket of hot water to rest her feet in. And a whole hot bath to soak the rest of herself in after that. And soft towels to wrap herself in after. And an empty house with only little fox friends to not judge her when she didn't put on clothes the rest of the night. And a whole bowl of warm onion broth to slowly, loudly slurp. It was a rough time, ok? She needed a lot to feel better after. But because she did it, she made it to the top of a new hill that day, and she'd never felt more accomplished about anything in her life. So nobody could tell her it wasn't worth the trouble.

Yue's never been in a proper duel before, it turns out. All her ones before were practice. Or they were play. Or very special dances with people whose stories she already understood, once or twice even before they did. But she's never dueled before, never fully figured out her very first lesson from her very first fighting instructor. She's never felt the rush of the dance of dares and daggers, where footwork is almost more important than swordplay, where grim smiles turn into flirty ones at the drop of a stone or vice versa, where the space of a wink is enough to get your head cut off because you're walking chest to chest in slow circles with your sword pressed against your opponent's neck, and hers on yours.

It's scary. It's so scary that she can't keep swallowing, gulping and gasping. It's so scary she drops into two completely unrelated flop sweats. It really ruins her attempts to be a flashy and charming dancer for this girl who was, in spite of everything and everyone she's known, the first to ask her if she wanted a challenge. The first to push her, to try and swallow her whole, to fight her for really really realsies and not because they wanted to teach her something. She's never done a dance of death like this and been forced to be so aware, so very incredibly aware of how sharp a sword really is. What it's really like to hold a blade to somebody else and just how much she's asking of herself and her partner every time she picks it up.

But it's also exciting. It's so exciting that her heart flutters like a dancing flame on a candle wick, and with her chest squeezed so tight against Qiu's there's no way she doesn't feel it too. And that's exciting, too. The warmth inside of her is hot and sticky. It's in her chest, it's running up and down her arms, it's welling in her stomach. It's between her legs. And so she dances, to make the flame burn brighter. To feel hotter and hotter and hotter until it's not sweat she has to worry about dripping everywhere. To share the feeling. To rise to the challenge. To be a figure from "the stories" and dance like she was born for it. To not let down her teachers or falter in front of this girl who was a hurricane, but instead take her warmth and share it.

Their feet cross in such a way that, for a fleeting instant, Yue's got control of the tempo. In this one second, she could do anything. A flick of her sword could disarm Qiu, or she could twist her hip and bring her to the ground. She could flourish her sleeve and blind Qiu for a decisive strike neither of them had a name for yet. Infinite possibility, inside this one little step.

She takes her chance. She leans forward and kisses this other girl full on the lips. Her face opens in a wide and very flustered grin, while her neck dribbles blood along the blade she'd pressed it into. And together they walk through a door, backwards in time.

(Don't worry, Hyra. Wolves mate for life. But your girlfriend is experiencing, like, twelve awakenings right now and how many times is she going to get the chance to kiss a Princess? I promise you, she will not begrudge you any of these same opportunities for as long as you live <3)

I think it's fair to say that Yue's danced before. With many, or against many, or however you want to say it. And I don't just mean on her way here, with the knights and the demons and the piles of assault ribbons! Though that was a lot of fun, too! But real warfare, erm... dancing is when you're dealing with a warren full of extremely antsy rabbits (EARs). There's so many! Hippity hop! Ity! And they're fast, wowzers they are fast and just, goshies, you'd think they wouldn't be very threatening but those teeth are actually terrifying and ouchie?

So just imagine, not a city but an entire society of bunbuns, all of them mad as all get out and flustered because they think you're there to hurt them and even speaking their language doesn't help any because they are just Extremely Anxious and Also Not Listening Rabbits (EAANLRs) and also you are much bigger than they are, which makes you untrustworthy by default. So you run and you zip and you dodge, you dance with the poor little buns and you don't even let your adorable forest fox best friend come out and... ok look I see the conflict of interest here, I'm just saying an extra pair of pawsies would, oh come on! It's boring in the bag! What do you think made me take up hobbyist narration in the first place?

Anyway. Qiu becomes armies, cities. She expresses them with a sweep of her blade. Yue responds by becoming the woods and the plains, and the gorgeous stretch of land by the river, and she dances through them as a single person might when she knows them all like the back of her hand, and suddenly there's nothing more to fear. It's not the feeling of being many, that's not a move that's in her fight vocabulary, but it is the feeling of infinity. When she's her own Terraced Lake, you see, it doesn't matter how many angles the dance takes place from, because the water has a place for them all. S'kinda funny this is how she approaches it, but you asked who Yue is, didn't you? Well here she is. She's a sillyhead who can do anything so long as she doesn't stop to think about how impossible it might be. And she reaches the end of another dance, and winds further back in time.

She's never been the villain in someone's story, unless you count Tianic. And Yue does not count Tianic as the kind of person who needs or wants to go about creating villains out of heroes. So she's never done it before. She's never been asked to rise this high, to storm this hard, to hold so much power in her body. It's new to her. It's a tingly sort of thrilling, actually. But only because it's temporary. If she had to hold this sort of energy and the expectation that she could bring ruin and calamity and disaster, or that she might be expected to stroll into a diner at odd hours and steal the smiles from everybody's hearts just for funsies, well if that was her life she'd just sort of dissolve into an ugly puddle, wouldn't she? But like this, right now, with someone safe to throw herself against? It's amazing.

Yue's dress glitters with all the seeming of the sun. Her sword sparkles against its terrible radiance as her hair pulls loose and flutters majestically behind her. Her back is straight, and she stands a hundred feet tall. Her delighted, dorky grin expresses itself as a deliciously evil smirk that calls lightning from the sky. She plants her sword in the ground and it lifts underneath her to form a shrine dedicated to love with water pouring from a thousand pipes in endless waterfalls and pools.

Do you think you can bring her death, silly Princess? Show her! Only the worthiest technique from the most pure hearted maiden can carry a blade all the way to her heart! Where Yue strikes, storms follow. She etches her entire soul into the land around her because it's fun. She leaps, and where her body passes it creates a whirlwind. She falls, and her body is a meteor that could purge the land clean, if it wanted to.

She does this all with the zeal of a girl who's never had power she could even think about abusing before. She spends money as somebody who's barely had enough to get by her whole life suddenly waking up to discover she's inherited a fortune and is afraid that if she doesn't blow it all at once she'll wake up again the next day to find it's all gone back to how it was. She falls farther and faster than any of her friends could probably think her capable of.

But it's a trust fall, y'know? She does it because there's someone there to catch her. There's a god-slaying sword she'll get to see, that'll fix everything and make all of indulgences turn harmless, but only if she storms hard enough, cackles darkly instead of giggling, and duels with the full fury of the proper Demon Swordswoman. The duel is about the duel, Princess Qiu. We move like this. Then like this. Now like this. Finishing like this. Again! Strike harder! The fight isn't won till you've knocked her from the skies and lifted her blushing head up with your blade!

She falls. She crashes through the final barrier. And on the other side she, she, she!

Oh ouchies. Ooooof. Mommy can she sleep in today? Sis said it's kay if she's got a good excuse, and her whole body feels like bruises now. Yue stumbles toward Qiu with, well, not so much determination as a lack of idea of what else to do. Her training has all been beaten out of her arms, her legs, her brain. She's got no stance except the ones she dreamed she might have when she was a little girl, reading the same four books in an endless loop instead of going to bed like a sillyhead.

She doesn't hold a sword anymore, but a stick. She's not ready for the real thing yet, and she couldn't afford one anyway. Swords are things for fancy city folk with access to good iron and lots of hot and skilled artists to beat all that metal into a pretty thing just for flyin' and dancin' and stealin' pretty girls' hearts with. But when you don't know what you're doin', a stick's as good as Excalibur. Anything she can pick up and swing could be a legendary blade in her arms.

Her lungs are burning. Her body is so drenched in sweat that four baths wouldn't be enough to clean her. Her gorgeous, perfect battle dress has been torn and cut up bad enough that she's gonna have to find a sewing wizard to put it back together again because it is so utterly, stupidly beyond her or even her sunshine to fix it by herself. And it's weird, right? Because it should make her want to cry, but all she does it fight. She ignores her aches, she ignores the blood and the way her cuts sting where they're covered with dirt and mud, and the twigs caught in her hair, and the sand in her... everything, ack, goshies, it's even in her mouth, ptui ptui pfeh! No wait, she's ignorin' it, ignorin' it I said! She just fights, because there's someone here in front of her who loves it more than anything, someone who's shown her so many stories in so short a time that it'd be rude to give up until she's good and ready.

Besides, it's not like there's anything left of Qiu the Threeshard Princess, either. This is not a legendary battleground for suave and sophisticated duelists. This is not a fight that anybody will sing of, where skills and powers they'll need new words to describe clash against each other like raindrops on a windowpane. This is not a place where experience and talent even exists to trump a useless novice like our precious, pretty Yue. This is just a couple of girls, all the way back at the beginning of the journey, waving tiredly at one another 'cause it's fun to do so.

The Wandering Tales of Yue the Sun Farmer, the final, strongest secret sword: Yes, I Love you! The Sword of Validation! Yue does not dance or duel because she has a story she wants to tell. Not one she wants to impose on anyone she meets, from the greatest fighter on the planet to someone who's picking up a weapon for the very first time in their life. It's a harder path she's born to walk, one cultivated from a lifetime of running with animals and caring for plants, and only ever taking what she needs. Do you know how Yue wins duels? The only way she can win and still stay herself? Well I'll tell you. She has to finish when her opponent's heart is fuller than she found it. She wins when they smile, she loses when they frown.

But that's not why her knees give out on her. That's not why she tumbles into a heap in front of Qiu. That happens for a much simpler reason: she's just not as good. Not as strong or fast or in as good of shape. She hit her limit before the Threeshard Princess. It is her face being lifted up, in the end. And she's got nothing left in the tank. Nothing she's got it in her tired, battered body left that she can to respond. Nothing except to sniffle, and then to cry. She punches the dirt.

"Darn it," she says, "Darn it! I almost had you! I swear I almost had you! I wanted... I wanted to win!"

She sniffles, loud and nasally and super duper undignified. And the true, final power of her Secret Sword is unleashed at last. She lifts a shaky hand to wipe her tears away as her face lights up in the sunniest smile she's got inside her. She laughs. She laughs so hard she snorts.

"Next time," she giggles this time, "Next time I'm gonna kick your butt. Or the next next time. Or the next next next next time. But I'mma get you! And when I do, you'll... owe me... a..."

Yue. Plain old silly Yue, flops forward just as tired as it's possible for a girl to be. She falls straight into Qiu's arms, and closes her eyes. See, sillyhead? She took your worst. And your best. She's still here. When you, when you get right down to it, a dragon's not any scarier than a tiger. You... dummy...

Tell me. Come on, tell me. Who really won today?

"Of course, mistress." Chen curtsies in her rags and immediately hops off the dais. "This way, mistress, if you please, we'll all need to change and I um...know a good place."

She does of course, Chen knows the city well and has been through the streets many a time despite Ysel's strict training regimen. It was the very nature of being a growing teen in a city of wonders that one had to partake of them, and it would not be the first time that Chen had gone to seek maid costuming in Ys, though it would be the most open she'd ever been about it. But nothing to be done there, she blushed and she led because that was how a proper servant had to be for someone new in town. She couldn't possibly let her mistress wander about by herself. Or her dear sweet girlfriend and helpless handmaiden. No, that's why she first offers her hand to the Pyre of Meaning to help her down properly and then to Rose in turn, who's still a little stunned.

How are you doing, sweet Rosepetal? For Chen this is a perfect combination of her own fantasies and Keron's training. But have you reverted to a silly ditz or are you managing a modicum of cute elegance from all that time in the Sky Castle? You probably trip and nearly fall right onto the Pyre of Meaning and Chen has to dig you both out, but be sure to tell us all about it!

Meanwhile lets get to the costumes. Ys is a city of wonders! It's full of all sorts of places, new and old all mixed together in a big hodgepodge, so of course you're going to find a tailor's shop with automated sewing machines and lace embroidery being done by hand all together. That's what puts the love into it!

Chen picks out for herself a short-sleeved maid dress with layers of wide poofy skirts. First there's the white underskirt and white leggings going down to her shiny high heels (the tallet she's looked to date, coming up nearly to match the Pyre's chest!). Then atop that she's got the main maid dress in its classic black with lots of ruffles going down her thighs to just above the knees and flaring out because of the underskirt. Then atop that she's got her white ruffled apron with lace edging that's only a few inches shorter than the black skirt and has some stitching to give it body. It gives the impression that her skirt is constantly billowing up because of the layers of fabric and she has to gather and smooth it down constantly, and it makes her look wide and fluffy. Above that she's got the dress gathering in around the waist and coming up over the breasts and shoulders but leaving her upper chest bare-skinned. There's a layer of frilly white lace going across the top of the breasts to join with the puffy lace shoulders of her apron which flare up on both sides both going to her black short sleeves which cut off well above the elbow. To complement, she wears a lace choker with a black ribbon holding it in place around her neck and of course a proper white headpiece with ruffled folds in her hair. And because she's a Princess, her one affectation is to set a single diamond in her headpiece, adding just a little sparkle. Lastly, after a moment's thought, she gets a set of dark gray kitty ears like the snow leopards she's been imagining and adds that to the ensemble as well. It's not quite the same as a sunshard, but it gets the effect across.

For sweet Rosepetal, well, Chen lets her pick out her own clothes because a good maid should be able to dress herself, but when they get in, she insists on adding a diaphanous white silk scarf over the top of the Pyre's handkerchief, tying it about Rose's face and behind her neck just so, tight enough to give her a nice feeling of constant pressure but not so much that it hurts. And through the translucent material you can still make out the purple of the Pyre's handkerchief stuffed into her mouth behind it. Chen gives her a pat and tells her sweet little Rosepetal to go and pick out the rest of her outfit now that she's properly shut up by her Princess.

Only then, when they're done does Chen pose for the Pyre, offering a proper curtsy and then a cute nyan with her hands up together by her neck making little pawsies with her fingers. Then she pulls Rosepetal into a pose (the silly thing!) and they both twirl together and giggle, or as much as Petal can manage through her gags.

But that's not all, they can't be done just because they got dressed, oh no no no. There's still a battle going on in the city and the Pyre asked them to help repair things. A good maid always carries out her mistress' will! And a better maid does it before her mistress even fully comprehends it. Which is why once dressed, Chen turns to the Pyre (who by the by ought to have picked out her own outfit, a proper servant hardly left her mistress wanting for dress!). "This way please, mistress. We must hasten!" and somehow she's still got her sword slung across her back, no harm done to the dress as she smoothes it out almost to the knees and then guides them outwards. There was a whole hoard of demons here after all and they need to be properly rounded up.

Chen darts expertly in and among the shops, stalls, street vendors, and bustling crowds. Now that the Pyre isn't in her procession they're amidst the crowd and the whole thing has become rather a spectacle of Ys for the day, no less awesome for its small scale than the vast beasts that had been fighting in the street just prior. After all, how often does a vast beast turn into a regular-sized demon with two elite maids waiting on her and rounding up all her various demon servants? Oh and they are everywhere. Chen has to bend down with all her thick skirts and pull them out from under carts and reach up on her little tippy toes to grab some that are trying to crawl up the rain gutters and the advertising banners. And poor sweet Rosepetal just keeps falling into them everywhere she goes, isn't that right?

But then there's still one last thing (and many more things still after that, but one last thing for now). After they've made their way down the street and back towards the gates, it's imperative, in fact utterly mission critical that they stop at a small izakaya and Chen duck into the back (poor Rosepetal, left to entertain the Pyre all by yourself, you'll have to manage for a few minutes) where she informs the owner that she'll need to assist with the cooking.

Now, Chen is not a baker on the same tier as Yue when it comes to amazing flavors and weird fish-eclairs. But she does know how to make pancakes and she did purchase some lovely chocolate chips in one of the shops while pulling out a strange little demon who kept talking about chefs made of some kind of metal. And so she's going to quickly and carefully take over the Izakaya kitchen and make a batch of the most lovely chocolate chip pancakes with cinnamon and just a hint of nutmeg. And of course, they're providing maid service here, so there needs to be a full and proper treat with this. That is why Chen serves them and draws a happy smiling face with the whipped cream, and then daintily places a cherry nose and, with a smile on her face to match the pancakes, presents the whole stack to the Pyre. "For your strength mistress" she adds, holding a deep curtsey once she's no longer holding the platter.

Because, well, she had to. She had to, and now they could get to all the radiant knights and princess Yin with no regrets!

The sudden change in power does, yes, leave poor Rosepetal somewhat stunned. Here she was, being so elegant and careful, artful and teasing and, beneath it all, sincere, doing her best to convey her meaning without breaking character or implying she was in a position of power, and now here she is, mouth stuffed, ordered to shut up, and incredibly self-conscious over how hot she finds it. She’s not a silly ditz; she’s just so preoccupied, overthinking, and not paying attention to where she’s walking. The poor dear needs her Chen to guide her by the wrist, leading her stumbling and blushing to the shop. Her eyes are darting, her fingers are clenched against Chen’s hand, and she’s trying to cover all of herself with one hand. (And it’s pretty obvious that she only got bashful right after she was silenced. She’s walking on the edge of a precipice, heart pounding, each step so careful, too afraid to glance down.)

Then Chen whips out the scarf, and pulls it so deliciously firm over her cheeks, over her pouting lips, cinching it behind her head, and that’s what shoves her over the precipice with a helpful pat and a command. Now this isn’t just an embarrassing punishment that’s got her flustered and self-conscious and squirming: now it’s something that her Princess gave her. She half-closes her eyes. No, that’s not the right way to say it: a filmy snake eyelid snaps down for a moment, and her brilliant golden eyes are hidden as if behind a gauzy veil.

She reaches up and rubs her fingers over that scarf, staring at her Chen, and even when the eyelid rolls back up, her eyes, usually so keen, are unfocused and relaxed. Then she makes a noise through the handkerchief and the scarf.

It is toe-curling.

It is also deliriously happy, the sound of bashfulness and excess thoughts melting away into that long, deep, delighted moan.

When Rosepetal stands back up, it’s with a sudden elegance, the elegance of Rose of the Sky Castle, a body that knows what it’s meant to do without that pesky brain getting in the way of things. When she sashays into the racks, swaying like a snake-charmer’s pet, she’s already up on the balls of her feet. If you whispered words of command into a willow-tree and had your true love step out, eager to make your every wish come true, the result might look something like Rosepetal picking out her outfit, humming, blinking slowly and contentedly with that snake-lid, moving with unnecessary spins and hops and not caring who sees what.

(And you can see, Chen, if you sneak a look. You can see everything. And when she catches you, peeking from around the aisle, she stretches, hands above her head, thighs taut and strong enough to crumble stone, soft chest rising and falling with her breath. And then? She bounces on the balls of her feet. Just for you.)

When she emerges, it’s hard not to stare, isn’t it? So much of her outfit is marching the scarf her Chen gifted her with: diaphanous white pulled snugly over her rich, dark skin. Her sleeveless top all caught up at her elaborate lace-over-leather collar (with a ribbon leash tucked neatly inside, waiting to be rugged out), the buttons down the front seemingly almost ready to pop, so sheer that it’s easy to make out the voluminous (and still straining) lace underneath: the deep, rich purple of the Northern Wind. Her gloves, extending snugly up past her elbows, and her stockings, racing up past her knees. The apron, which exists in shadow, with only a cute snake and snow leopard tail entwined in embroidery to distinguish it. But not the skirt, scandalously short, hiking up whenever she bends over (and, yes, it’s the same purple lace, Chen, your purple, feel free to stare), leaving a zone of Absolute Princess-Destroying Territory between her stockings and the skirt’s lace trim. And not the proper white headpiece, flanked on either side by thick ponytails: barely constrained with three ribbons on either side, heavy enough to kill a man if she spins on her gleaming white heels, pushing her legs up to their most presentable. And not the leather-and-lace cuffs around her elbows and wrists, ankles and knees, an odd but frilly decoration unless you recognize the design worked into the leather. Push them together, and they’re not coming apart no matter how Rose tugs— but only for her.

Oh, how she matches her Chen! She curtseys with that teeny skirt, unable to help herself from flashing hints of that rich purple on either side, and she lets her Princess twirl her around like a doll, pose, show off her outfit (just as daring, in its own way, as her precious short-lived outfit that Chen will undoubtedly replace). But between Chen doing her best maid poses, smiling like the sun peeking through the mountain peaks, and Chen leading their mistress through the city? Well, we can’t forget Rose squatting down, thighs not so much as trembling, pigtails brushing against the ground, to take her Chen’s perfect, round, shining face, and press her gagged lips to her girlfriend’s own, again and again, smothering her in gagged kisses, fluttering her lashes and humming I love you, and when she pulls away, she leaves her girlfriend breathless. Freedom from shame! Chen gets to look forward to those often. Much more often.

As for cleaning up Ys— well, Rosepetal isn’t doing a lot of thinking! That’s for people who haven’t been told to shut up, for people who aren’t wearing an outfit to make everyone jealous of both the Pyre and the Twin Shard Princess, and for people who aren’t giddy with delight, all but dancing through the streets, wringing their tiny skirt in their hands and trying to remember not to put their wrists anywhere near each other, so— Chen! Cheeeeeeeeeen!! She did it agaiiiiiin! And here she comes, prancing back to Chen, with a demon tossed over her shoulder and another three writhing in a sack, holding her wrists out with a begging whine, and giving her another thank you kiss before running nimbly off to toss demons back before the Pyre! Anyone might think she’s doing it on purpose, but the truth is simpler: Rosepetal doesn’t have to worry, because her Princess gagged her and is here to take care of her and here she is dancing through Ys, solving an invasion without a sword, just her muscles and her willingness to obey while looking like a knockout, and she never dreamed she would really get to do this! Not in a hundred years! Free and owned, shameless and flaunted, able to trust like she’s never been able before.

…until Chen leaves her in the claws of the Pyre of Meaning, who apparently finds it very funny to listen to Rosepetal’s flustered little huffs and moans, legs like columns, arms the same, as the promise of those cuffs is realized. And with her arms pulled back like that, well, when Chen comes out, it’ll be hard not to stare at the lace in her face, and the giddy whimpers of her Rosepetal being arbitrarily punished by her owner. Not that Chen knows it, necessarily, but she’s watching Rosepetal fall hard and fast knowing that her Chen is there to catch her.

Knowing that even if she’s helpless, her Chen would never let someone hurt her little Rosepetal. That she’ll keep coming back. And that she’ll tease her helpless, wiggling sillyhead of a girlfriend before pulling her limbs apart again, strong in a way that Rose is denying herself.

(It’s okay, Chen. Rosepetal is nodding when you catch her eye, and she’s awfully forward in her squirming, and she picked out that top for a reason. Go ahead. Show her how much you appreciate her, now that your hands are free. Threaten to snap those buttons. Get a nice handful and weigh her thoughtfully. Put on a show for the crowd and the demons and your mistress and make your Rosepetal feel like she’s the heroine of this very special story.)

Yue!

"Impossible," said Princess Qiu. "I cannot be defeated. Nobody can do what I do. Not if all the Nine Kingdoms stood against me."

Her legs tremble, her shoulders shiver, exhaustion is writ across every part of her but the sword beneath your chin. That is held steady enough to trust your life to. And as you fall at last - it's gone. All that's left is warmth and strength enough, just enough, for this.

"But even if I cannot be defeated..." she said the words because 'thank you' alone could never have been sufficient. "It seems that I can be satisfied - something I also thought to be impossible. You have lost the fight... but it seems you have saved the world."

Legends tell of the first great Princess who shot nine suns from the sky, but they do not mention why she spared the tenth. In this moment, though, the answer is obvious: the tenth sun, alone amongst its kin, has a perfect sense of timing. Because for whatever time the clocks might have imagined it to be, now it is sunset. Now the sky is streaked with pink and gold and blues that brush the edge of green. Now in this moment of exhaustion, with nothing to do but touch and breathe and watch, the largest canvas of all is set out in all its colours.

All!

But then the edge of cool air and twilight violet whispers over the horizon, and there is one final danger.

Her thighs are wrapped in lunar white and her armour is blue silver steel. Her hair is ghostly white, bound for war in knots of threatening, promising skill. Whichever way she turns her sword it seems to catch the moonlight and, oh! The power of her Shard! You feel it brushing against your skin, electric, lulling away aches and exhaustion and filling it with a strange and riotous energy. The sky alights with fireworks, red and white, echoes of the Princess in whose hands all power now rests. Her captive mewls and begs at her booted feet, such a proud creature reduced and broken. The world hushes before the mighty.

"Congratulations, Yue," said Princess Hyra of the Wolves, sitting atop her brand new Sunshard. With a flick of her toe she sent the conquered Princess Yin forwards to bow at your knees. "I got you a present."

Her crimson eyes flick cautiously between the Pyre of Inspiration and Princess Qiu. It's a wolfish stare, looking for vulnerability, contemplating violence. Was this the moment she followed through on the play? Where she attacked the weakened Qiu and the defenseless Pyre, taking three more shards, another princess, and an obedient handmaiden as prizes?

A word from her girlfriend would be all it would take.

The fate of the world once again hangs upon the ambitions - or lack thereof - of Yue of the Terraced Lake.

"You only think that 'cause nobody's done it yet. See what happens, ow ow ow owies, next time you big jerk."

She's laughing when she says it, even though it hurts to laugh. The promise of a next time, that's the important part. She lets her loss lift her by the chin and then she falls into an exhausted heap, but that's just not leaving by way of bein' too worn out for the alternative. That's why she takes everything she's got left and uses it to accept Qiu's little thank you, however she's gotta say it. If she promises a rematch then even if they don't travel together all time, that's as good as... oh!

"Speakin' of impossible," she squeaks as she suddenly and very shakily rises off the ground to fish her new phone out of her bag (and scritch her darling secretary!), "Can you... show me how to, uh, send letters on this thing? They showed me how to make it do music, and I sorta get it but, like, I saw Chen writin' stuff on hers and I thought, y'know, it'd be nice to... st-stay in, y'know. In touch. I mean you've got, what, three kingdoms to run? And I only live in one of 'em so I..."

Yue trails off to just vibe and watch the sunset for a while, 'cause no matter how much you might wish or try otherwise there's moments you can't really add to by talkin'. She smiles and she messes with her phone even though she's got no idea what any of the things she's pressin' on the screen mean or do, just happy in the way only a village girl can be when she's finally got a fancy toy she's heard so much about.

And then something even more beautiful happens. She gasps and leaps to her feet in a fresh surge of energy she didn't know was in her! And maybe it wasn't? Sure didn't feel like it till just a second ago. This could be, oh goshies gosh gosh gosh! This is what Princess magic feels like, isn't it? For realsies Princess magic, and for the first time ever it's not bein' pointed at her like another silly, sodding sword! Her eyes light up like little moons, soft and blue and shimmering in reflection of Hyra's dazzling red. Her smile's as sweet and delicate as the setting sun's. Her phone falls to the ground forgotten as her hands fly up to cup her cheeks. And oh! How she squeals!

Look, everybody! It's her G I R L F R I E N D~~!

"Hyra Hyra Hyra, there you are oh gosh! I missed you, where did you go, oh my gosh and goodness you look amazing! What'd you do with your hair? Does it hurt? You're so pretty! Your outfit's amazing! Are you... glowing? Does that hurt? Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh nevermind, just... just..!"

And then it's kisses. Kisses all the way down. But you knew this would happen, didn't you? You weren't worried for a second. Yue jumped straight over Yin just to make it to her Princess' arms. Didn't even think about it! Maybe didn't even notice she was there! Was this sillyhead supposed to dream of empires and crowns? Did she have ambitions to marry the queen of the planet or something? Maybe she'd wrestle the title and all those shards away from Hyra when her guard was down, and then she'd be the Dark Empress with just the prettiest little concubine~!

No, you know better. And Yue doesn't. The idea that there were targets, or opportunities, or enemies of any sort here with her tonight did not once cross her mind while she was busy crossing the distance between her and the love of her life. The fact that Hyra was glowing, radiant, and powerful like she'd never been before was only excitin' to her inasmuch as her girlfriend looked happy with herself and her lot. She coulda stumbled here with her legs in tiny golden chains and a poor serving girl's rags wrapped around her body and, if Hyra did not look miserable to be so reduced, Yue woulda been just as thrilled to see her like that. Certainly she'd've kissed her just as much. Just as hard, just as soft, and just as all over. They've been apart for a while now, ok? You get... missy when it's been a while? Haven't you ever been tackled by a silly pet when you come home from a long day's chores?

The moment passes. The test is... eh, not really passed so much as crumpled up into a ball and thrown in a waste basket. Two points! Silly game, basket test. Anyway. Yue didn't start her journey with dreams of becomin' a Princess, or a princess or a... man, what a confusin' world we live in, don't you think so? But honestly, it never occurred to her to try. She'll be your handmaiden, Hyra, if that's what you want. Or she'll work hard to lift herself up to your level, but that's a whole other journey and you know better than to short change her on one of those. You'll be taking it together, in either case. Let it go, sweetheart. Let it go, and kiss (and maybe fondle) your silly girlfriend who just dueled the world's most terrifying woman to a standstill while nobody was watching.

And only after kisses, and holding, and being held, does Yue notice Yin. Only after the long ceremony of love and joy and happiness and celebration does she find time and energy for the defeated. She smiles. Yin glares.

"Oh! Hey there, Prince-- oh, erm. I guess it's just Yin now, huh? Yeah, I've got a lot to say to you too!"

They glare at each other, for a good long while. But it's actually Yin who breaks first, and looks away somewhat hurriedly to try her starin' contest at somebody safer instead. Maybe Qiu? Gee, d'you think she's wonderin' if Yue's thinkin' about what she'll look like as a mouse? But Yue shakes her head and laughs.

"But darn it all, I can't remember most of it. Ah well, I guess it couldn't've been important. Anywhich, d'you think like... I mean, have you thought about what to do now? 'Cause you, like, I mean. Don't take this the wrong way ok? Or do. But please don't? But you're not... I mean, like, when I met you I thought, well like, it's been super impossible to remember to call you 'Princess Yin' this whole time. 'Cause you're not, like, remember! About the taking! You weren't... good. At it. You just looked and sounded so angry at everythin' and everyone. And that doesn't, I mean like I'm not an expert or anythin', but none've the other princesses I've met since've been like that. Like, at all? Even the sad ones! So iono, like, maybe look at this as an opportunity? You could take up sun farmin', that's actually suuuuuuper relaxin'! I feel like you need a... month. Or two. Of that.

"Or, oh! Oh! How about a dance studio! You'd be an amazin' teacher! You must be, your knights were the best! Man I can just picture it, eeeeeee! Fulla mirrors and shiny wood floors and mats, and all the students in their tights and jazz shoes, Instructor Yin! Instructor Yin! Teach us how to dance and sing! You could. Yeah, yeah! You're picturin' it, I know! Oh, goshies, that'd be perfect for you! And you know, if you wanted a... if you... wait a second."

Yue's eyes turn bigger than dinner plates. She gasps a gasp worthy of the end of life on earth. Her smiles turn to frets and shakes and panic in the blink of an eye. And that's when she starts hitting herself in the head.

"Oh no. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no! If you're here, and you're here, and you're here, and I'm here, then... oh, no! Oh, stupid stupid stupid Yue! Dummy dummy dummy! They're gonna! Oh, and I wasted all that! There's no time now! Hurry hurry hurry, Hyra Hyra, psst psst psst! Quick, have you got more ropes? We need ropes, like, yesterday! And gags! Yeah, like hers! But, y'know, for, oh, there's no time! Hurry up, ropes and gags, they're gonna be here before we're ready! We have to go go go go go!"

She hops about and rushes around, winding rope with surprising alacrity and skill in all the right and best places around Princess Qiu, tying them together with comfortable, practiced knots. Come on silly, don't struggle! This is important! You'll see in just a... oh, I get it never mind! Yeah, yeah, like that! Struggle just like that, thank you so muchies!

"Ok quick, now me! Now me! Come on Hyra, hurry! You've got the shard sword and the look (oh goshies) and the... the, y'know the damsels so just. Oh, shoots and leaves, you need an army! Uh, um, uh... where'm I gonna... uh... ok Kat you're up, rise and shine sweetie it's time to take the spotlight! Come on get out of the bag already you sillyhea-- hey that's my banana bread! Ok well now you're working double just to... get out here, you're an army now! Yeah? Well. Shoulda thought've that before you ate all my bread, shouldn't you? Right, ok? Ok. Call in your favors if you got 'em. You can hold that sword like... ok! Ok! Yesh! J'sst lhhk that! Thnku, Hyrrha! Wubbu!!"

W-well. Um. Ok then. Right. So, uh. Um. Hoo boy this is so far above my... no wait, what am I talking about? Yue needs me! She needs me! By goshies, she is gonna get the best darn army in the world or my name's not Katherine Isabella Fluffybiscuits, esquire! So what if there's no time? So what if there's no plan? I'm me!

All right, Double Super Princess Chen. This is your home, ain't it? You came here to fight and duel and chormp to protect it, didn't you? Well guess what? Guess what guess what guess what? After all that work you did there's still a conquerin' army at the gates and a princess as fierce as a wolf with a sword flashin' full of fresh power ready to kick down the gates and snatch everythin' if you don't stop us!

Oh, uh, when you're ready of course. We'll be waiting here for you. But hurry up. I mean, um, if you dare! Mwa, mwaha, mwahahaha, AHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!

...eep! Was that lightning?! Oh Yue please, let me back in the bag, let me in the... ahem! I mean! Mwahaha! And stuff.

Let’s get one thing straight. Chen absolutely expected the Pyre to have a little fun with her Rosepetal while she was cooking. That was part of leaving her! Part of the maid experience. Chen was the skilled maid who was directing the experience, Rose was the bimbo maid who was there to be teased and silly even when she was unexpectedly competent. So Chen ducking out of the scene to cook the pancakes wasn’t just abandoning Rose to the Pyre’s machinations, it was an invitation! That was the fun of it all!

Even so, Chen had to stop as she exited the kitchen with her plate heaping full of chocolate chip pancakes, whip creamed bottle tucked into her skirt to draw the smiley faces. She has to stifle a laugh and a blush, and she can’t stifle the grin. Uh oh Rose, the Pyre had gotten straight to the cuffs and now you were locked up oh so tight! Tighter than Chen had been when you’d wrapped her hands in the old world caution tape and trussed her up on a stick! Don’t think she’s forgotten! In fact, her first thought is that she’s going to have to get you back for that trussing while you’re like this and put you up on a pole for people to play with. Oh oh, or maybe over a fire pit as though you’re going to be a sacrifice to the nearest deity. In fact, she would bet that the nearby deity would come down just to tease you, oh yes that will be great! Just add that one to the idea bin that occupies a small corner of her brain.

But Chen has pancakes to serve and smiley faces to draw! So, she slides out of the kitchen, her feet in their heels perkily clicking as she crosses the floor to you both. She sets down the plates oh so gently, and pulls out the can of whipped cream with a flourish to properly shake it. She smiles, and a little blush enters her cheeks as she looks at her Rosepetal over the Pyre’s lap, but she stays strong and makes her follow through on the flourish by putting the cherry down daintily to complete the pancake presentation.

Only then, only after things are served and she’s curtseyed properly to her mistress, does she calmly suggest “Mistress, if it please you, I can take my co-maid off your hands while you eat.” Because it will obviously please the Pyre, she’s already sliding Rosepetal off the Pyre’s lap and onto the plush lime green cushions of the booth seating on one side of the table. She’s not taking the cuffs apart though, not yet. Instead, she takes her own seat as the Pyre begins on the pancakes.

Chen tuts. “Petal, goodness, I can’t leave you for a moment can I?” She puts a hand over Rose’s mouth, shushing even her moans and pressing her gag in more firmly. “No no, I come back and you’re all tangled up!” Chen smiles as she brushes a hand over Rose’s wrists. Her touch is gentle, not enough to pull them apart, but more than enough to make the skin prickle and the sensation rush through Rose’s body. Then she runs that hand down the legs, over the bare skin and the high socks and down to the ankles, feeling those tensed muscles held together by the cuffs. The soft rustle of fabric fills the space between the two and nestles in Rose’s ears as Chen enjoys the feeling of touching her over these lovely clothes. For a moment that the light rustle of a hand running over the fabric and nearby the clink of the Pyre’s silverware are the only sounds. Chen lets it linger before she speaks, “maybe I should leave you like this, hm? Suggest that the Pyre command you to follow us without separating your legs or hands. That would remind you how to be a good girl, wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t it be fun to be desperately trying to keep up and falling all over yourself hopelessly?” She grins. Does she mean it Rose? The Pyre isn’t going to be eating forever and Chen seems to be quite enjoying her freedom running that hand up and down your thighs and along the inside of your belly. She’s thinking about whether she ought to feed you first, the servants’ meal while the Pyre enjoys a drink, but she ultimately decides better of it. There is work to do after all and she doesn’t have time to do all that work with your gag. “Well, my silly handmaiden, lucky for you today that there’s still an order of knights that we need to clean up. So I guess I’ll have to free you. But we’re making up for lost time later and you’re absolutely forbidden from taking those cuffs off until I say so.” Thus at last Chen grins and slowly, gently, pulls your wrists apart and then your legs, making no effort to avoid leaning her small but ample chest right into you while she’s doing it.



The little group leaves the Izakaya and heads towards the walls. It’s not far, they were nearly there already from their route catching demons before they reached the Izakaya. They do need to deal with the knights and Yin. Chen’s plan had been to simply roll that into the maid routine, part of the city cleanup, so to speak. She was going to high heel drop kick Yin when she saw her because oh boy did that Princess have it coming. Chen assumed that her Mommy’s forces would have already thundered down the main causeway while she had been busy and then fanned out along the walls, so they would have a fairly easy time. Or if they hadn’t they would be soon. Mommy Ysel did have a knack for timing if nothing else, and she might be waiting until the sunset just to make sure that the light gleamed off the soldiers in their regalia properly. It had to be set up so the minstrels and bards described them as the spirits of legend come down to Ys in their gleaming ranks, the twilight air blurring them with the heavens. Something like that at any rate. Maybe Chen was just feeling dreamy with how everything was going.

Her musing is interrupted by the sudden whistle boom of fireworks overhead. A whole series of them suddenly go off in sequence, red and white one after another in the shapes of starbursts and flowers in the sky. But Yin’s colors were black and white, her stark radiance night and day thing. Red and white were Hyra’s colors which meant…it’s then that Chen sees her. Wordlessly she taps Rose and points, gesturing upwards to the sky past the walls. There she was, hovering over a little hill with a shrine and a fountain from which a small waterfall pours down the hillside. A less enraptured Chen would have found the scene odd because she was sure such a hill shrine had never been there before in all the years she’d spent in Ys. But the sight is mesmerizing and Chen has no attention for such observations. The sunshard illuminates Hyra with an ethereal light, merging with the deep blues of the sunset to make her look transcendent, as though she were infused with all of reality, spotlit from within.

Chen simply stares for a moment, trying to commit the sight into her memory, to burn the ghostly image of Hyra above that hilltop into her brain. She is going to paint this, from the war topknot in lunar white to the deepest blues of the steel merging with the sky behind. Oh, oh if only she had all her painting things now she’d pull them out immediately, at least mix colors until she got the hues just right before going up there. She could keep the pigments, bottle them up for later. But she hasn’t been carrying her paints and her brushes since all that time ago when she left them with Qiu, and besides she couldn’t have kept them on her anyway when changing into a maid dress.

“Come mistress, we should go see about the commotion, I’m sure there’s quite a story up there.” Chen offers the Pyre another curtsy, and gestures for Rose to follow as well (Rose, of course, does not receive a formal address since she is the lower-ranked maid at this point, but Chen does give her another warm smile and a gentle tug). Then Chen draws her sword and begins a lazy flight up toward the hill, trying to see what there is to see without outpacing Rose or the Pyre as they work their way up.



As Chen gets a look at the hilltop, the first thing she sees is the cast of characters all spread out. Yue is tied up and gagged, placed against a little pine tree near the shrine entrance and looking full damsel in distress. Yin is at the base of the shrine, unbound but begging for mercy and bowing before her new master high above. And near her, lying on the open ground, is Qiu who is also tied and gagged. She’s got her tail up with the tip coming out past the top of the ropes. That tail is twitching as she’s squirming against the bonds in a way that says I’ve got this under control but also involves some very active rolling about. Above them is Hyra, with her moonlight armor, her gorgeous new hairstyle, and her flashing sword, as lightning bolts cut through the sky to backlight her. Last, in front of them all, holding the hilltop and looking as fierce as Chen has ever seen her (ignore the breadcrumbs around her mouth), the illustrious Katherine Isabella Fluffybiscuits. Chen gives that fox one look, meeps out loud and races back down from her flight to hide herself in a hug with Rose!

Now, she might also be smiling and giggling a little, and this might actually be an excuse to give Rose a big squeezy hug in the process. But what’s important is that Chen understands that the hilltop is being held by a very powerful army and that anyone who underestimated Kat was in for the chormping of a lifetime!

So Chen snuggles into Rose and looks up at her with the biggest saucer eyes. “Oh Petal. Hyra’s defeated all the other princesses and seized a sunshard and and and she’s got a fierce and terrible army holding the hilltop. The most fierce. Only you can distract them and make an opening for me to duel Hyra for the safety of Ys and freedom for Yue and Qiu! Pleeease!”



Now, let’s be clear here. Does Chen think that Hyra could have taken Yin and stolen her shard? Absolutely. In fact, if you thought about what happened at the Sky Castle, it probably wasn’t even hard. Yin might be the single easiest Princess to distract in all the nine kingdoms. So count that as one problem solved. Chen is only a teensy bit disappointed that this is not an appropriate situation for a maid drop kick.

But Chen does not believe for a second that Hyra would ever hurt Yue and she’s pretty darn skeptical that either of them could get Qiu into that spot if Qiu didn’t want to be in it. Not to mention that there’s no way that Kat would be guarding the hilltop if Yue were in real danger.

But! But but but! It was clear that a duel was required! Hyra didn’t get all dressed up like that just to pose for a photoshoot! And whoever had masterminded this little stunt (Yue, it was obviously Yue, Yue did it) wanted to see a proper duel with all her heart. Which meant that Chen, all dressed in her maid outfit with her sword gleaming in her hand, was going to need to go for Hyra one on one while Rose distracted Kat.

Gosh, had Chen ever told Yue this particular fantasy? Yue had seen her in the maid outfit working for Cyanis of course. That’s how they’d met, Chen blushing for all she was worth while offering Yue her sword in the face of a whole countryside racing after Qiu’s bounty. But the duel as a maid part? Chen hadn’t even really been anticipating that, she was so confident in Yue that getting to Qiu had been the very last thing to do on her list for today and nobody else had been all that likely to offer a proper duel. But maybe Yue had simply understood it from all their training together, and the precise way Chen moved in that little maid dress cleaning that simple shrine months ago. Yue had seen Chen’s heart and realized that Chen wanted a showdown like this to get her first shard more than anything.

The Pyre of Inspiration, of course, was going to get a front row seat to the action. And sure, that did mean that if it all went wrong then Hyra might seize three sunshards all for herself and become the new and terrible wolf princess overlord of the nine kingdoms. But really, that didn’t sound too bad either. Not that Chen was about to let it happen. She had a duel to fight! R-right after Rose distracted the army standing in the way!

Distract them.

What that is supposed to mean is Rose from the River using her peerless swordplay, her power and prowess as a paragon of the Burrows and their craftsmanship, to hold an army at bay. But what it could also mean, now, is Rosepetal dancing, drawing all eyes to her, unapproachable but desired, barely out of reach, leading an entire army away with a shimmy and a prance. And what it means right here, right now, for the battle of Chen and Hyra…

Rosepetal kneels on the earth, knees carefully apart, skirt hiking up to a scandalous degree, and then pats her knees. Yes, see? She’s getting your attention, Katherine Isabella Fluffybiscuits, champion of Hyra the Wolf Princess, devourer of whatever you like, a foe who cannot— who cannot— be defeated by force of arms. That’s right, Katherine. Not even Rose from the River in her prime could do that. There is no way to defeat you with the art of the sword.

But look! Rosepetal reaches up and begins stroking her hair. Such soft, gentle, languorous strokes! Imagine how that would look, Katherine, or better yet, imagine how that would feel, those fingers running up your back to the base of your floofy tail! How those clever fingers could wub you just right behind your perky triangles! See, in the twist of her wrist, the promise of floofing your fluff, of digging her fingers in and really fluffing your floof all over! How she flutters her lashes and conveys, through little more than a soulful look, how empty her lap is without a brave, courageous, and renowned vixen there to spoil! That’s right, Katherine, she doesn’t just want you, she needs you.

And so slowly, so slowly, you advance, tail wagging, hiding behind little clumps of leafs and then scampering close, wiggling and bouncing, only to poumce! Leap, little vixen, and be swept up into her arms! She presents her face and allows you to lick, her fingers rubbing up and down your sides as her mistress goes to face your mistress’s mistress (which, we can all agree, is quite a lot of mistresses). Don’t worry, little fox, dearest Katherine, you don’t have to worry about that fight! Chen of the Northern Wind has sacrificed her most beloved of girlfriends just to keep you— yes, you— at bay long enough for her to duel without you tangling her shoelaces and tugging at her skirt. After all, how could she be expected to fight Hyra and keep from stepping on your luxuriously soft tail, o most talented of narrators? And if she did that, then she would lose the duel by default, and never get the chance to show Hyra what her swordplay looks like when her heart is free and her maid outfit is so cute and she has a girlfriend to watch and cheer for her with adoring glances and eager nods and muffled squeaks! She would have to toss down her sword and surrender to Hyra for cutie crimes, or else face the wrath of Yue the Sun Farmer, and that’s even worse, oh yes it is, oh yes it is! So knead away, lick and drool, that’s what the apron is for! Scrabble your precious little pawsies against her buttons as you streeeeetch up to her face, and wrap your tail around her wrists, and—

“…mmmmff???”

Wait, little— dear little Katherine, there must have been some misunderstanding! You’re a silly pet, not— and her elbows, too? Katherine, please, how is she supposed to indulge you with her arms stuck like this, without anyone to pull them apart for her, and— and, oh, you’re slithering out of her lap? You’re headbutting her thigh and trying to get her to put her legs together? Oh! Oh! Yue!! What did you teach this wily little vixen?! Has she been this cunning the whole time? Don’t just giggle and play innocent! That exaggerated show of innocence fools no one, and— and— eeeep!

Down Rosepetal tumbles onto the soft grass, and up Katherine Isabella Fluffybiscuits hops onto her, radiating smugness as she flops down on Rosepetal, using her chest as a pillow, and begins kneading her apron with the indolent pride of a silly pet who has bested an even sillier pet! Rose reaches up as best she can to keep giving victorious Katherine awkward scritchies, and the delighted, smug purr radiates through both of them as Rosepetal, blissfully happy in her continued and yearned-for and completely safe humiliation, turns her head on the grass to watch Hyra and her wonderful, sweet-hearted Chen from an awkward angle indeed.

[Rosepetal really should have known better than to roll a 5 on such an important Entice if she didn’t want to end up all tied up and helpless again~]

"And so you stand alone," said Lunar Princess Hyra. "Your friends -"

And then the flash powder under your feet ignites and even as you blink she's crashing down on you from above, blade in hand.

You've never seen Hyra fight before. She's trained, she's schemed, she's shown off, she's revealed endless tricks from the sleeves of her kimono - but sometimes the most tricky move a trickster can pull is fight fair. After that explosive opening sets you off balance you're on guard against every snap of fingers, every sway and false sign, but what confronts you in moment after moment is simply devastatingly good conventional swordplay. She darts to the left so fast that you half believe she might become a wolf and sweep you from your feet but she arrests her momentum and turns it into a direct thrust. She slashes her free hand and silver powder spills from it, but as you brace for the flash her true move is to swing with so much raw strength into your parry that it threatens to knock your blade from your hand. This! And then this! And finishing like this! Again!

And then she's past you, back turned, wolfish tail wagging beneath the moonlight and continuing her monologue like she never stopped. "- have fallen to my conquering army already, and there is far worse still to come. I will send my armada to the isle of the foxes and release all those imprisoned there. The land will -" she tenses again, like she's intending to interrupt her monologue for another shock offensive, but then lets the moment pass. "- tremble before its new fluffy overlords, and in a landscape of chaos mine shall be the only law."

She turns to raise her blade and - shnk! From behind you another! Cyanis stands with foxish wickedness, blade drawn, encircling you. Behind her the Pyre has slumped, staring into the hypnotic candle - the same that was used to control Rose from the River in months past.

Left and right, front and backwards, wicked tails twist and sway. And who are you, Princess Chen, to stop them?

Rosepetal knows better than to look at that candle. Even if its new wick wasn’t encoded for her, anything potent enough to stop the Pyre of Inspiration in her slithering tracks would almost certainly work on her, too. Cyanis is wily and impish and took such terrible advantage of her back on the Sky Castle, and behind her, she can hear the stillness of the Pyre, and beneath that incredible stillness, heated huffs of breath. But she still has a part to play. She can’t just sit around like a helpless damsel in distress who needs her Chen to save her, as appealing as the thought might be! No, her Chen trusted her to handle an army of foxes, and that includes fox tricks!

Her wrists are caught, but her fingers are free. If she can get the flame between two fingers… it will hurt. She is a thing of wood, and even if the living wood does not burn, it still fears the flame. But how better to prove her bravery? If there is anything that she still holds dear, it is Chen: Chen who freed her, Chen who saved her, Chen who came back for her.

So she digs the heels of her shoes in, and scoots back, inch by careful inch, as Kat cheerfully pretends to snooze on top of her. It is painstaking work. If she doesn’t lift her hips just so, she’ll either startle Kat or work her skirt right off, and she’s not going to let either of those things happen! She twists and rocks back and forth, seemingly helpless, getting grass stains all over her shoulder blades, not flinching a bit even as Hyra lays out her plan to cry havoc and let slip the foxes of chaos. She bites down on the sodden handkerchief filling her mouth, keeps scooting along, and comes closer and closer to the prize.

Then Cyanis laughs: a maniacal cutie laugh that promises mischief and mayhem, and directly brings those things about by perking up Kat’s ears. The little vixen lifts her head, sees that her prisoner of war is being sneaky, and she yells! Her war cry is squeaky and adorable, and her weapons are two flooferdoodle pawsies that she brings up and back down onto Rosepetal’s cheek, doing almost absolutely nothing.

Except for turning her head so that her gaze falls on the candle.

One hand cups her chin, and another wraps its fingers around her hair.

They’re not real, Rosepetal tries to tell herself. But her spine and her skin both betray her, as the candle’s flame coils around her cervical vertebrae. You are being held, they both say. Can’t you feel the pressure? The fingers tightening around your hair? How your jaw can’t move? You can’t look away.

More hands press down on her, pinning her arms against her torso, her legs to the grass, holding her heels together. It’s useless to try to struggle; they won’t let her slip an inch. She can’t even kick. She tries. She strains. But her brain won’t let her legs lift; after all, she’s being held down.

She takes a deep breath to try and call for help from… somebody. Anybody. Chen, with her clever sword’s singing tip, which could lash out and cut the candle in half, send it toppling to the grass. And the hands press over her mouth, more than one, the pressure sending a giddy shiver down her body as she’s stopped even from pleading for help. A pathetic, needy groan leaks through those strong fingers.

Then the sensations of hands slip under her clothes, and her eyes widen, and she tries to buck and yelp, but she can’t even do either! Her eyes flutter as hands work up and down her body, squeezing, pinching, rubbing, weighing, like a dozen eager Chens, and—

That may have been a mistake to think. Because now the candle’s got a name and a face and visible hands, drawing on Rosepetal’s own memories to fill in the blanks. Who knows what the Pyre of Inspiration is seeing, or whether she’s capable of imagining being caught by anything but her very own self, coiling around her, stifling her thoughts and making her a prisoner of her own thoughts.

“Did my silly little Rosepetal think she was going to be the hero~?” Chen purrs, her eyes a flickering flame, kicking her adorable heels behind her as she lies on the grass. She reaches out and boops her Rosepetal on the nose as her many, many grips tighten. “I can’t even leave you for a moment, can I?”

And Rosepetal, blood rushing to her cheeks, skin alight with the wicked intentions of a dozen imagined Chens, makes a valiant attempt to try to talk back, to defend herself, to do anything but melt into a blissful haze— and fails, utterly.

Kat, triumphant, curls back up on her cushioned bed, which has conveniently stopped trying to get around and is instead pleasantly vibrating in place. Another decisive cutie victory.

[Rosepetal rolls to Defy Disaster with Wits and hits a beautiful 5.]

Chen smiled. No no no, Chen beamed. No no, that’s not it. Chen takes over for the setting sun and lights up the world.

This was a gift to her. A special sort of gift. It was sort of like the gift that Yue had given Qiu, but Qiu was in a dark place and so she didn’t believe she’d received it until she was done. Chen knows what she’s been given here, and it only took her one sequence from Hyra to lock in. This is the duel in its purest form, a chance to be completely free. Hyra’s offering something special here, mixing in a new style with her tricks, and Cyanis is laughing as she draws her katana with that special fox laugh, and Chen smiles because a little angel came down to earth and turned it briefly into heaven just for her.

Can you see it from your bound little perch, Yue? The way your dear friend’s face just lights up, the way that even up in the air and far away you can tell her eyes are shining and sparkling?

For a moment, the world hangs frozen. It’s like a droplet of water poised to fall from the tip of an icicle. Then Chen burst forth in a shower of sparkles glittering past the outstretched rays of the twilight sun and they were all dancing.

Every night, every night
We’ll be forever
Every night, every night
Time ceases to be

Fly, twirl, press, step, laugh, caress!

Cyanis hasn’t finished brandishing her katana and laughing when Chen’s inside her guard and they dip together, sword guiding Cyanis’ helpless arm, one of her tails involuntarily twirling about Chen’s leg as the momentum carries them in a dance away from the rushing Hyra.

I dream of wishes
All I see are foxes
Come dance with me
I’ll set you all free

There’s a brush of fluff and a thrush as the lace of a maid skirt flows over a fox’s bare leg. A flail and a breathless hug as the rush of the sword blows past the fox’s cheek, so close she gasps as Chen pulls her in. She whispers “I promise to free them too” and there’s a giggle. They dip and a thrown shuriken passes overhead like a shooting star in the twilight, hot and furious. Then Chen pushes with no weight and Cyanis is falling, falling, falling like a fluffy shooting star all her own. Tails twirling in freefall until they touch the grass not far from the little shrine, the tree, and Yue.

Dancing alone
Just the Northern Wind
The swirling snow and ice
Finding our own Hyperborea

Hyra throws another shuriken and rushes behind it. Blades meet like lightning and there’s a flurry of strikes through the air as the two duelists clash and part. Blades whistle and sing as they compare technique: sight against speed and bluff against reaction time. They’re dancing through the air and a storm begins to swirl around them. Faster and faster until…

Dance together
Join hands within the wind
Our joy is just beginning
All new worlds to live

They’re flying past one another, swords catching and swirling in the storm above the temple. They strike like falcons on the dive. Swoop and dive, talons extended as they deflect with a loud clang. Armor flashes and apron skirts flap as they fly apart and up, gain altitude and dive again. They soar and they weave, and always there is the clash as talons meet and part. The partings become longer, the weaves more complex, the flights faster and faster until…

Laughing wildly I call
Chase me, come catch me
Come on, come on
You can’t run that fast on two legs!

Light flares from the sunshards and the two are running on the grass across the hilltop right past Yue, Qiu, and Cyanis, diverting around Rose, Kat, and the Pyre as they come up parallel. Hyra barks and bares her fangs and Chen growls and swishes her new fluffy gray and black tail behind her for balance! It becomes wolf vs. leopard as the two vie for an opening, racing back and forth across the hill! The wolf is stronger, but the leopard’s more agile and so they bound back and forth in long looping circles. They leap higher and higher until…

Fly with me
You don’t need wings
I hear you calling me
Don’t let the world hold you

There’s a flash and they’re back in the sky, wolf and leopard running in the wind. They clash in the sky like little deities of this new shrine, unbound by any laws of the world. Tooth and claw etched upon lighting and silhouetted by stormclouds.

This one passes beyond sight. Higher and higher in the clouds. Why shouldn’t it? When you’ve stopped caring about time, when the hearts of stars want to see your performance, it’s going to carry into the heavens and dance before the last light of the last sun on the horizon. They’re not wolf, nor cat, nor girl anymore but wearing forms exactly of their choosing, swords in hand, sparks flying with each blow as though the god of the forge were reworking the night sky.

There’s a magic there that Chen would paint if she could double herself and watch her own performance. It’s the same magic she keeps seeing, the way that the sun, the moon, and the light and the shadow all merge together to make such beautiful colors. The way those colors reflect off swords and armor, fur and fang, the most perfect reds and oranges, blues, and purples that she could ever imagine. She’s so completely immersed in it that she never wants to stop.

Hold the world instead
Hold love close
Make but one thing
And you make the world

For a time it seems like it might be that way. Chen would lose herself in the joy and Hyra in the performance. They could carve themselves into the stars as new constellations forever. But there are people waiting for them down below. And besides that, it is the nature of duels to end.

In the end, it is not Hyra sitting atop a sunshard as they descend to earth, but little Chen, sword in one hand resting over her lap. As she descends, she’s busy smoothing down the fluff of her maid skirts, which are now being sent every which way as her extra fluffy snow leopard’s tail flicks from side to side experimentally.

Hyra rests beside Chen, exhausted and panting, but not sent hurtling back down to the hilltop. Her armor still gleams in the moonlight and her hair, now loose and scattered, somehow looks even more gorgeous.

In the end, the difference was that Chen had promised after the sky castle that she wouldn’t hold back anymore, that she wouldn’t insult her opponents by hesitating. So she refused to give up and a lifetime of training for this thing she loved had let her hold out past Hyra’s endurance.

As they come to the hilltop, Chen has a special glance for Qiu, equal parts pride and embarrassment. This duel had been planned for her originally. It hadn’t been needed, but Chen wanted her to know that she was ready for that too. That she had been ready if Qiu and Yue hadn’t already worked things out. Even after having her whole body thrown by her foe’s mouth, she had come back and she wanted to fight Qiu when the time was right. It wouldn’t be like that again. It never should have been, and she was embarrassed that it had.

When her feet finally touch starlit grass, she runs first to Rose to show her what happened, what’s she’s done with a new shard! But of course, she finds her with the Pyre utterly lost. She humphs and straightens up her dress before licking her fingers and pinching out the candle.

“Who said you could take a break, maid Petal?” Chen’s finger is under Rose’s chin, lifting up those eyes to look at Chen’s new fluffy speckled triangle ears as she towers above the prostrated Rosepetal. Chen is shaking her head affectionately, that smile on her face that she can never manage to keep off when she’s having fun. “Your job was to distract an army and, obviously, to protect your mistress and instead I find you napping! You’ve been terribly naughty, Petal. I’ll expect you to make it up to me later.” Chen picks up the candle and slips it into a pocket of her apron. “I imagine this might be useful for that too~” she says, offering her most convincing kitty smile. “Now apologize properly to your Lady as well.” And here Chen curtseys to the Pyre of Meaning and bows her head. “Apologies for the inconvenience my lady.” If she weren’t grinning so hard and with such a feral grin in all of this, everyone watching might even believe her prim and proper act.

Last of all, Chen pads her way over to where Yue is tied up by the tree, near Qiu and where Cyanis so gracefully landed when she was pulled out of the sky. “I know you put them all up to this” Chen says to the tied up girl. “Not to mention whatever happened between you and Qiu first. And uh, whatever you all did to Yin.” Chen flicks her tail appreciatively…probably at least. She’s still working on figuring out the tail, but she flicks it and she means it to be appreciative, plus she accompanies it with a smile to show what she’s getting at.

She stares for a moment, and then bends down and gives Yue the biggest little hugs she’s ever gotten! “This is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me. I don’t know how to repay you, Yue, but by every right you have claim over that sunshard there, if you want it. Even though I’m having a lot of fun with it so far.” Chen flicks her new fluffy snow leopard’s tail in front of her for emphasis, brushing it past Yue’s face so she can feel how soft it is.

“Oh, there is one little matter though.” Here Chen’s wearing the same face she usually has for teasing Rose, though she’s taking a bit more of a chance with Yue. “There was something about sending a fox army to assault my handmaiden and threatening to conquer Ys, I think? So, I’m not sure if I can untie you just yet. No, I think we’ll have to march you back into the city just like that first. Don’t you think?”

I guess... I guess there's really nothing left for me to do but smile, is there?

Honestly, I can't think of anything. This all worked out amazingly. Better than I planned, even. Pardon my language, but sheesh. Better'n I coulda hoped for. Honestly. Not that I'm some kinda mastermind or anythin', but... well I mean, I dunno. You agree, right? You've been here longer than I have, honestly. Right from the start, when I was still tucked into my silly little house hidin' from demons, you were watchin' everybody else. You ever see these girls be so amazin'? Did you know they could be? 'Cause honestly, I'm kinda shocked.

Hehe, that's kinda rude, isn't it? When I met Rose I, I mean. Of course I thought she was brave and beautiful and stronger than, like, twenty horses. She carried those muscles like they were treasures from some forgotten vault and just. Wowies, gosh. But honestly it took me a good long while to see past that and realize she was hurtin' inside. Always so scared of breakin' the world, y'know? Or havin' it run away from her so she'd be all alone. It's, mm, it's hard. For someone like me, I mean, to understand where she was comin' from. I never had any strength at all, I couldn't even imagine what it'd feel like to be scared've all the strength runnin' through my body. I kinda still can't, bein' fully honest.

But the girl she is now? I think she's stronger than the one I met at the start. She's strong enough to choose something I could never, never, never manage in a hundred years, not if I tried every single day. See, Rose? She's strong enough to not be strong. Does that make any sense? I dunno. She's just, y'know... y'know? Imagine askin' me to choose not to pick up a sword, now that I know how. Or I mean, like, I know she doesn't have to pick, but still. But still. Even if you told me I could spend the rest of my life with Hyra I couldn't do it like she does. I wouldn't wanna. But she? She looks so beautiful. She looks so happy! And I'm so happy for her. All my life for as long as I get to live it I'm gonna take every chance I get to hug her, invite her over to tea, and swap ideas for dresses and stuff. She's bound to have a million in that silly head of hers! And I mean, I can't be wearing this same thing for the rest of my life, right? Sooner or later and about a million stitches from now this has gotta be a special occasion dress. Maybe I should... hm.

Also I can't believe Kat beat Rose before I could. Kat. Kat! Little flooferdoodle, where have you been hiding all your strength? Hehe, look at her. My precious little bean. She's so pleased with herself. I'm gonna need to break out the good foxnip soon, she's earned it.

And Hyra beat Yin. Hyra beat Yin!! Remember what it was like, at the start? I thought she was gonna be some kinda final boss but then Hyra just... pow! Wowies. I can't believe how pretty she is. When she had her hair up, wow, and now her hair is down and wow wow and her armor is so, so, so! I want to peel it off of her. I do. I'm sorry for just saying it right in front of you, but I feel how I feel. I wanna get her alone, by a pool or a bath or I don't even care, and I wanna slip her incredible shining armor off her legs and arms and chest and waist and neck, and then I wanna kiss the skin that's underneath it. I wanna give her a bath and get my fingers tangled up in that wet, silver hair and listen to her breathing. I wanna lie in her lap, while she's still wet and naked and press my head against her and listen to the breath come in and out of her body and the beating of her heart. I just, wow. She's so strong. She's so brave. She's so, so smart. She could do anything to me. Anything she wants. And I'd do anything to her, too. We could be pet and master, princess and handmaiden, or hero and villain, or we could both be shining swordswomen together or a pair of cuties, or anything else I can't think of at the moment.

And, and, and. You wanna know something else? I'm gonna marry her, too. But I'm not gonna ask until I manage to beat her in a duel. Maybe that's silly. But I feel like she'd appreciate the gesture. Don't you?

I, uh. Oh. Sorry, this is distracting. I didn't think Chen was gonna see through... I mean, no! I didn't do anything, that sillyhead! She's the one who, who, who, whoosh! Wow! Up in the sky like snowflakes that refused to fall but drifted, drifted, danced and sang, just, just, just, delight and teasing and. Goshies. Yeah. It was her. She's so amazin'. I still, I. I can't even believe it. I can't believe she's my friend. I can't believe she let me come with her. Can't believe she taught me. Can't believe. I can't believe it. I can't. I, I, I, I, I can't. I can't. I can't. I. No. It just doesn't. I can't. I can't, ok?

She shines so bright, like a star. She, ah. Her hugs are so warm. You've no idea. So warm and soft. Even softer than her smile, now that she's gone and floofened herself. I didn't even realize that was an option! Not like this, anyway. She looks so happy. She looks so happy! All my friends look so happy!! It's so amazin' that even after all this time, talkin' and walkin' and trainin' and learnin' everythin' I could about all of 'em, they've all, every single one of them, managed to surprise me in the end.

Maybe I'm just a sillyhead. But you think so too, right? They're all. They've grown so much. Done so much. Danced just so pretty. Did... did I look like that? Iono. Problem with bein' me is that I can't watch me. They oughta invent a way to do that, I say. But anyway, no. I don't think so. Qiu dazzled like a diamond. Chen sparkled like a whole constellation of stars. Rose glittered like gold and somehow like the tiniest, most beautiful flame in the whole world. And Hyra stole my heart, even though she already had it. Oh, and did I mention she beat Yin?

I guess it's true. There really isn't anything for me to do besides smile. It's all done. Don't worry, I can do it easy. I can even talk, not that it's polite. Didn't really have time to tie a proper gag, see, and I kinda panicked and just did it like I remembered seein' in the stories. But it turns out you can just kinda... open your mouth and talk anyway? If nothing's in there? But I, I can't. I can't let Chen know. I know she knows but still. If I break the spell, it stops feelin' special. If I make a comment right now, everything ends.

...Oh. Well that's silly. It's so hard to see right now. Stupid tears, nobody invited you! B-but I, I, I! I can't stop! Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm ruining the whole thing, y'know? But I can't help it. I don't, I don't...

I don't want it to end!

I'm not ready yet! I don't wanna go! There's so much left to do, isn't there? There's so much left to see! Kingdoms and mountains and rivers and cities and grasses and so many kinds've animals! And people! So many I haven't met! So many stories I didn't get to be part of! Oh, shut up I know it's greedy! But I! I! I never got...

I'm the only one who didn't win, in the end. Hyra, Chen, Rose, Cyanis, Qiu, Katherine. Not me. I wanted. I tried so hard. I wanted to make everybody proud of me, and I just... I didn't do it. I couldn't do it, in the end. And that's where we are. I'm not ready, please, show me the next vista! Pick another story, please, please! There's, there's gotta be a surprise twist villain, a, a, a, I dunno, a quest to do! A shrine to the demon swordswoman's ancient lover where we can finally learn her name! A cat stuck in a tree, anything! This can't be it, I've got so much left I wanna try! There's so much growing left for me to do if I'm gonna catch up to everyone. There's... there's so much and I...

B-but this is it. Isn't it? It's all tied up. City saved. All the hearts are shinin'. I even miss my boring little cottage. Never a good sign, is it? But I just. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just wish I had a little more time. I just wish I coulda showed you a tiny bit more. It's not fair. It's not fair, is it? Stories are so beautiful. So amazin'. I got to be part of one and I'm so, so grateful. But no one told me that had to end!

My... my lips are curling up. In a smile. I think? I think so. I can't see right now. My face is tremblin' so much right now. But I'm pretty sure... I'm smiling. I'm nodding my head. Yeah, Chen. Y-yeah. I was a naughty little usurper and you beat my champion, f-fairer and squarer than I coulda imagined. So. Yeah. Let's go, you've earned it. I'm ready. No, really, I'm ready. And I'm happy. I am happy. You, listen. Ok? Gran Gran used to say, you can care a lot and not cry. But you never cry because you don't care. So come on, let's go. It's the happy ending everybody's won. My amazing, perfect friends.

...I'da made a lousy princess anyway. You think so too. Right?

Daily Affirmation Of The Way <3: "Dukkha (suffering) is the gulf between expectation and reality. Between what the heart wants and what it has. It can be resolved by properly aligning your expectations... or by properly aligning reality."

*

Of all the techniques Princess Qiu demonstrated one stands out in your mind above all others.

She demonstrated techniques for fighting armies and gods. She showed you how to cut heartstrings and excise indifference. She had this weird thing where she tossed her sword from her right hand really fast and caught it in her left hand right as the cut was already beginning. But one technique, used almost offhandedly, always struck you as having more potential than even she knew.

One, two, three - now.

Once Princess Qiu cut time and space with the edge of her blade.

It was during your first meeting with her atop her doomsday pyramid castle thing. She used it to make everyone the centre of the world - of her world. To put everyone individually in a position where you and me was all there was. And in retrospect, you think that she was somehow doing it wrong.

One, two, three - now.

It occurs to you sometimes as you contemplate her techniques. In retrospect, going through the motions, feeling each beat of the dance out you can see that there were mistakes. Imperfections, failures of imagination or execution, wild improvisations that somehow came off as brilliant counterstrokes but were in truth fueled entirely by luck. And you sense that here the true form of her world-splitting technique was blinded by insecurity and craving. She wanted to be the most important person in everyone's world, all at the same time. She was afraid that if she did not do it then it would not happen.

One, two, three - now.

But what was really being cut?

Was it space and time, as you first assumed? No... you can cut them and they're not so special. Was it emotional bonds, connections? That doesn't seem right either. One, two, three. Your blade rotates through the set time after time. Your stance shifts and flows through the motions. Step by step you're coming closer to perfection but you still can't figure out what you're trying to cut. And not being able to see it you keep missing.

One, two, three - now.

One, two, three - now.

One, two, three - now.

The swishing of the blade goes faster and faster. You're on the clock, see. The little cart is making it's winding way up the hill. Before too long you'll see your little cottage. You'll see the picnic all laid out for you on the grass by Hyra, with a view overlooking the waterfalls of the Lake. You'll be so happy that you'll forget all about any lingering regrets for years and years and years until they finally come out as a quiet 'darn it'.

If only there was a way to cut heartache.

One, two, three - now.

*

Your feet hit the ground in a run.

Ten thousand tacky palm trees pass you by, shadows against ten thousand neon billboards. Laughing 8-bit faces, thumbs up, cascading rains of golden coins on digital screens. Skyscrapers the size of titans, all the burrows of the world inverted and stretching up to the sky. And upon the moon, orbit so close it fills an eighth of the sky, glittering in hot pink writing: KIKILLAND.

You reach the edge of the skyscraper promenade and look at the sprawling mechanized theme park below.

KIKILLAND

A massive entrance shaped like a grinning face, mouth open to ingest guests in their thousands. Written in mile tall glowing letters above it is a word. KIKILLAND.

A deep, electronic pulse flows through the city - digital, music, daemonic. Columns of emerald and burgundy flames pump up wretched souls from the lowest levels of Hell. From there they descend into mechanical frameworks, lumpen things with miniguns for arms and racks of missile launchers for shoulders. Upon each of them a word. KIKILLAND.

The sun in the sky has been wrapped in a mechanical cage, a dyson sphere that lets only a dim glow free. A massive space elevator runs all the way up to that distant stellar body, holding both it and the rotation of the planet in place. A word is written on the sun's container. KIKILLAND.

And yet for all of this there is not a single other person. No princesses, no maidens, no wolves, no beasts. No one adorns these streets. And yet, for all of this, you are not alone. You see up there in that distant tower a single white light that isn't in a garish pink or green. You see your reflection in a million CCTV cameras aimed your way.

You don't know how you came to this place, this wild, tacky, wonderful, terrifying, amazing, miraculous hidden landscape. You've heard the rumours about Princess Kikil of the Tesla Hive, who found incredible new ways to repurpose the technology of the underground. But this! Is this the world in her dreams? In her Sunshard? Has she been building this just below the surface, or in some alternate reality, and is just waiting to unleash it upon the world right at the perfect moment?

You don't know. But you know where she is. You know that there's an army of ancient robots between you and her. And you know how to use your sword.

With such knowledge, there is no need for thought.

*

Elsewhere!

You are filled with regrets, Princess Chen.

Freeing an island full of Kitsune seemed like a cool and romantic thing to promise to Cyanis in the midst of a sword duel against the Wolf Princess Hyra. But now you're here on a cruise liner filled with 6,000 kitsune and it's not quite what you imagined.

You can't even relax and let yourself get tied up because they will crash the ship if you and Rose aren't there to stop it.

Probably the worst part of it is how they'll sometimes just walk up to each other and scream-laugh in each others faces for minutes at a time in that way foxes do. Other times they'll flirt with you outrageously, attempt to steal articles of your clothing, or attempt to push you overboard. You can hardly walk down a corridor without having to step over dozens of bound and gagged foxes who huff indignantly against their gags. Fires break out at random intervals and places. Every little while there's a yelp and a splash and then angry yipping as a fox is pushed overboard by another fox. Every computer surface and inch of the sundeck is covered by fluffy tails and bare skin as foxes soak in the sun. And none of this to mention the impromptu foot races that send dozens of girls, foxes and foxgirls racing about at maximum speed.

And they're not even hungry yet. You packed enough fried tofu for everyone but now you're pretty sure that these foxes will start throwing supplies overboard in order to drive up the price as soon as they can figure out how to pick the galley lock.

If nothing else, Cyanis' promise of 'the cruise of a lifetime' is coming true.

"We could just let them crash the ship." Chen brushes a stray tail out of her face as she stands with Rose at the prow of the giant cruise ship they had commandeered for this purpose. She's got her hair tied back in a short ponytail, a pair of aviator sunglasses perched on her head just below her leopard ears, and a light blue Hawaiian shirt with little pineapples on it above her short skirt. Her tail flicks nervously behind her, and she puts a hand on Rose to hold herself up as she stares off the prow at the distant shoreline and tries not to look at any of the nearby foxes.

When she'd made the promise to Cyanis, she had figured cutie fox island was going to have thirty, maybe thirty five foxes. Something reasonable, maybe a few would have lots of tails, a few would be like Cyanis, they'd cram them all on a little yacht or something and be back across the water in an hour, then they could all scatter and grant wishes and the kingdoms would be a bit more chaotic and happier for it.

So, imagine her shock when Cyanis had said that the little yacht she'd initially brought in wasn't big enough and they'd need to ask at the port for a cruise ship. Imagine, if you will, the moment when Chen's fluffy new ears drooped in time with her tail and she just stood there for a moment and sighed deeply. But how could she say no as Cyanis wagged her two fluffy tails fast enough that it seemed like she might shoot into the air at any moment and wiggled her whole body with joy? She couldn't, and thus they found themselves on a proper cruise ship.

Now, when they'd arrived, the foxes had been cooperative. At least, they had all flooded onto the ship, which was kind of like being cooperative. They were smiling and crinkling their eyes and some of their were little flufferdoodles racing about and laughing while others were walking very cutely and beautifully in their fancy kimonos. But they one and all got onto the ship because it was new and exciting and of course they wanted this. They just couldn't keep their focus for more than ten seconds, so chaos had broken out the second the board ramp pulled in. Okay, actually, it had broken out when the second to last group had tried to kick out the boarding ramp from below the last group and then they'd all jumped for it and Rose had been buried in three foxes and seven tails among them while Chen tried to catch two tiny floofs at the same time without dropping anything or getting her clothes all chormped. We'll call that one a mixed success.

So now here they were and the ship was in chaos and there were problems. Chen sighed again.
"Okay seriously. Dear sweet Rosepetal, you actually know how to deal with this, right? Do we use Keron's playbook and try to force all the foxes in line? Do we just run around putting out fires and hope we make it back to shore in one piece? Or do we just relax, let them tie us up, and wait for the inevitable sunk ship?"

Wait, what the? Where did I? When did?

Did I... did I actually do it? Is this what I was trying to do? Ohmygosh! Oh my goshies!

My footsteps feel heavier than I'm expecting as I run across the unyielding and shiny black surface of what I guess must be a road. I mean, it looks a lot like the old roads the cars tend to stick to but just... fancier. And a whole lot more all over the place to boot. I figure it has to be for tires and robots and stuff, 'cause it's got no spring to it at all. When I hit it flat it ring through my soles all the way up to my hips, but now that I'm moving it's hard to make myself stop. My lungs burn. My legs ache. I feel... free.

Plus, I know an evil lair when I see one. I can't say I'd ever wanna live in a place like this. The trees all look sad and samey, and the lights kinda hurt my eyes. Not a blade of grass or flower anywhere I can see, and there's not even the far off screech of a hawk the grinding of gears or the thrum of the music that's dumpin' everywhere heavier than rain. But still. But still. It's got colors I've never seen before, shiny screens everywhere I look and buildings, buildings, buildings taller than mountains.

I run past a run-down looking stand in the middle of the park that's painted with faded and cracked red and white stripes. It smells overwhelmingly like old spun sugar and caramel, and when I turn my head I think I even spot a row of cream-stuffed cakes. Yeah. Can't say I hate this place, either.

Machines, shaped like people, shaped like weapons, shaped like dogs, and shaped like long-ago forgotten dreams come shambling towards me in a wave that reminds me a bit of a stormcloud. I feel myself turn on my heels and skid to a halt, suckin' in air and squeezin' my sword tight in my hand while I take a second to ready myself before I've gotta meet 'em. I see swords and shields and batons, things that look like guns and tubes and cannons or rocket launchers or whatever all that kinda stuff is. I see sharpened metal fangs and broken arms with wires danglin' down and sparkin' all over the place that are jagged and sharp enough to pass for a knife. I feel my heart poundin' in my chest, and my tongue lick across my dry lips. I draw my sword across the air in front of me in a slow circle pattern, and force myself to breathe slower. I'm not tired. I can't be tired. I'm not gonna make it if I'm tired.

I knew it. I knew it! I knew there was so much more to see and do than I could find inside just one adventure. Suddenly I feel about ten times lighter. I dunno how I got here but (pardon my language) darn it I'm not gonna waste this chance. I can do it. I can grow. I can be the hero, all by myself, in a place where for once I can't afford to lose.

All of a sudden, I see the city, erm, park? Uh... park-city come to life in a very different way. Monitors flicker 'n flare bright white one by one by one and then all at once they quit their animation loops and advertisements to focus on a video feed of a single subject. Which is, uh, me. Or at least, it's gotta be me 'cause there's nobody else here for it to be.

But I don't look a thing like myself. I can't help but stop and stare. No wonder runnin' felt so heavy. My feet are wrapped in heavy, black lacquered boots with thick treads and angry laces and a whole mess of buckles that wind more than halfway up my calves. Silver chains dangle from the tops and click into loops just above the heels. It's hard to tell what color the pants are with all these weird lights and the unhealthy yellow tint the air's got, but I think they're supposed to be white? And anyway they're thicker and tougher than anythin' I've ever worn before, and made of pockets besides. Black kneepads and a series of belts keep 'em cinched tight around my legs, with extra pouches for holdin' knives and... are those bullet clips or whatever they're called? The belt around my waist has even more of both.

I blink. This can't really be me, can it? But when I move my hand to touch my exposed belly, I see it move on the screens too. And sure enough, I touch skin. The tight, snakeskin patterned top is cropped up by my ribs, and everythin' from there down to the belt's just exposed. It's... I'm not exactly showin' muscles or anythin', but I also don't look as soft as I remember. Then again, I guess I've been doin' a lot of extra workin' out I didn't used to. It makes me smile, which surprises me 'cause I was sure I was gonna blush. The jacket I've got on top of it is ash gray with heavy black shoulders. I shift, and I can feel something like armor plates sliding around inside it. I guess in spite of everything this is a war outfit.

I recognize the sword in my hand. After all, it's mine. The same one I've been tryin' to be worthy of ever since I saw that shrine. But I don't know a thing about the others I've got on me. That's right, others. More than one others. There's a super thin and delicate one on my left hip with a fancy, twirly handguard that I kinda like a lot. There's a katana, like legit a katana, tied to my belt sitting crossed above the first one. I've got a dagger on my right hip and I think the handle's made of... yup, that's yew. And on my back a silly-big uh... I don't even know, would you call this a broadsword? It's huge, basically me-sized and too wide for a sheathe, how did I miss this while I was runnin'? How'd I miss any of these? I guess sometimes you just get absorbed in the motion or somethin', maybe it's supposed to all feel normal.

Even my hair's weird. And by weird I mean... cool? Somebody tied it into, like, a dozen braids and then pulled those up into a ponytail, so for once instead of frizzin' and floofin' every which way it's all out of my way and makes me look wild and kinda city-wise elegant at the same time. And I say somebody, 'cause it definitely wasn't me. I don't know how to tie the first one of these, let alone pull all these up together in anythin' like a proper hairstyle. Wowies. And lookin', I realize there's a pair of goggles danglin' around my neck like jewelry. I take a second to tug 'em up over my eyes, and suddenly the light around here's a lot less glarey. So that's nice.

...You're probably thinking it's weird of me to take so much time starin' at myself, aren't you? Aren't I in a fight? Well, I mean. Uh. Puttin' it bluntly, yeah. But, I just. I dunno. I've never, like, seen myself like this, y'know? My whole life I just threw on whatever wasn't completely trashed, and if it looked nice that's only 'cause Sis picked it out. And then I got that dress from the swordswoman's shrine and it was like, oh ok, guess this is my one special thing, y'know? So just, like, steppin' into the follow through on that cut I did and realizin' I'm suddenly done up like some kinda... uh, yeah, anime hero and I, like, I dunno yeah. I'm a little out of time for it, but I had to stop and stare. Hope you don't mind it too much.

There's a missile screamin' toward my face. Honest to goodness, a missile! Or, uh, maybe this only qualifies as a, y'know what I don't got time for this, it's gonna explode me, gosh gosh gosheeeeep! But somehow my body knows what to do. I've had so many great teachers at this point I guess I can't help but know. Anybody'd do the same if they were as lucky as I've been. I feel my feet plant wide apart, so I can take a big step full've hip and back power. I toss my precious sword above my head and reach with both hands for the monster blade on my back. Step slash swish! The missile splits in half and I guess 'cause I did it right neither half explodes until it hits the ground on either side behind me. I follow through the weight of the swing, rolling over my shoulder, and return the sword to my back as I pop up. I barely even bobble my real sword when I go to catch it. Wow, I just... I really did that, huh? I've got a lot've hugs and presents to give out when I get home. Also I have to buy the presents. Here's hopin' I'm secretly rich. Hahaha, can you imagine?

There's no time for thoughts; the front of the army's already on me! The thin sword comes out and stabs like a snake, pah pah pah! Into the faceplates of several machines, and they each topple as I slide it back out. I flick it clean and cut another one in half with my favorite sword. The dagger comes out in time to block a sword strike, and I run up on the shoulders of several lungin' fighters to flip up in the air and cut a crescent moon's worth of 'em down with a draw-slash from the katana. And from there it's a dance. I can feel the rhythm just poundin' in my bones, so I follow it like a... no, not like a good girl. Like a sneak. Like Hyra would. But still, I do follow it. We're a mess of motion, this army 'n me, flippin' and twirlin' and clashin' till there's a pile of 'em at my feet and my legs're startin' to wobble, but here comes another wave!

Somethin' comes straight at my head from up above, and it's only dumb luck that gets my sword arm in the way in time. Truth be told I was panic-flailin' cause I heard a noise that sounded like a... never mind. But we crash down on the ground together and I realize that I'm not dead, and also that this robot had a jetpack. Which, uh, if I'm doin' my math right, means I've got a jetpack now. A cut's as good as strippin' it clean, and then twirl click pose don't-ask-me-how-this-works-cause-Iono it locks onto my jacket and now I'm gonna get to fly! I mean, I guess I could already, but this is way faster and I can save up my own energy for the fights ahead of me. Plus, it's cool. It's so cool, y'know?

I can't keep from grinning ear to ear. I feel invincible. I feel proud. I feel like I'm being lifted up on the shoulders of all the incredible women who offered me their hands. But, like, for once instead of coasting on their talent, I feel like I'm doing 'em proud. I wish they could see me. I guess I'll have to tell the story later. Heeee, wonder if anyone'll believe me? Prolly not. But just in case, I should say something cool here. A hero would, uh... oh yeah! Introduce herself and really leave an impression. I flourish my sword and hold it straight in front of me. My lips curl into a confident smirk and I use my free hand to slick back my bangs. And then. And then!

"My name is Yue, of the Terraced Lake! And I've come to kick butts and chew bubblegum! And I'm all out of butts! So I, um, need to borrow... yours?"

Oh, for... darn it! Darn it! I wince so hard I can feel my stomach turn inside out and upside down at the same time. Guess I'm just dumb ol' me no matter what fancy tricks I learn, or how I dress myself up. But maybe it's ok? I mean, no one's laughin' at least. Or I can't hear it if they are. Maybe I, I dunno. Maybe it's ok to be me. I can juggle bein' cool and bein' Yue at the same time, right? Least a little? Hokay! Just you wait Hyra, when I get back to that picnic I'm comin' there a hero!

Bring! It! On!!

Sun's out, guns out.

Rosepetal may have emphasized her muscle definition in a way that would be very difficult for someone without a body under their full control, just to show off for her girlfriend(!!). Her choice of outfit was designed for obliterating cute princesses, too: a one-piece swimsuit with a back that's not so much plunging as toppling down a waterfall locked in combat with a nemesis, just to show off her impressive back, and a sarong with a Foxcatcher Knot tied snugly at her hip, for the devastating glimpses of thigh.

She isn't carrying a sword anymore, but don't get it twisted, she's still acting as Chen's bodyguard. The sarong's a deliberate trap: the Foxcatcher holding it together is so overcomplicated and showy that they keep trying to tug it apart smugly to reveal Rosepetal's tightly-clinging swimsuit, only for it to not budge, and then they're easily scooped up into arms or over shoulders or tossed into the ballpit. (There is a war going on in the ballpit. The ballpit, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide.) The real release is-- shhh, you think she's going to tell you? With all these foxes around?

Also, she's the one who has to keep in mind that if they let the ship be sunk, they're going to lose the deposit. Making a cruise ship isn't a trivial thing in this day and age, after all! It represents entire weeks of work from Princess Kikill, and if it were to run aground, it would be a terrible thing for sealife and the purity of the sea, not to mention wasting all of that time and effort on the Princess's behalf. If it got out that Chen let the cruise ship run aground on purpose, well, they just ended one Princess War, and letting Chen start another one is completely unacceptable.

So Rosepetal takes a quick break in between casting off lines for sea-dunked foxes to shimmy and scamper back up, as much of one as she dares to take, and stops to rub her girlfriend's shoulders. She knows all about pressure points, you know. The places to push, the firmness to exert. One of Rose's greatest passions is the body, and her control over hers allows her to exert some very precise control over her girlfriend's. As she's repeatedly, happily demonstrated. At length.

"You're that eager to be tied up?" Rosepetal purrs, kneading, obliterating any hint of soreness or stiffness under practiced fingers. "Am I not doing a good enough job of satisfying your insatiable need for being bound, gagged and pampered, my Lady?" One of her braids twitches like a fox's tail in irritation, just at the thought of that maybe being true, that maybe she's been too needy and desperate and taking too much without giving in return enough, but she doesn't let it seep into her voice. "After all, that's the only reason why you'd give up. A clever, imaginative girl like my Chen could figure this out if she really wanted to. Just like you figured out how to stop Hyra, save Ys, and save me."

She stoops and kisses Chen right between those two fluffy triangles, and whispers: "Love you." Then a splash, a howl of outrage, and Rosepetal's already on the move again, moving like an unstoppable object. Woe betide the fox that tries getting underfoot or in her way, because they will be scooped and tossed without remorse. Woe betide the fox that tries to tempt her with her heart's desire, for daring to imply that Chen's not sufficient! Rosepetal got her happy ending and as long as she never takes Chen for granted, everything will be fine, and if she talked Chen into letting the foxes sink the ship just because it makes her heart thrill imagining being kidnapped with her once again, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself!

She's going to make sure that Chen fulfills her promise, gets all the foxes to freedom despite themselves, and prove, once again, that she deserves the love of the Threeshard Princess. After all, she's been spoiled so much, she's been so lucky, she doesn't deserve all this happiness, so she won't take Chen for granted, not a bit!

But Rosepetal's so busy, she doesn't even have time to ask Chen what she wants out of this trip.

[Rosepetal offers a very mechanically loaded Emotional Support with a 12, burning a Chen string to get over her GUILTY condition's -1 penalty. If Chen opens up to her Rosepetal's reassurance, she gets to pick two options out of the list and Rosepetal will clear her Guilty condition, and if she doesn't, Rosepetal eats another Condition. Furthermore, if she accepts Rosepetal's faith in her, she marks XP; if she doubts herself, she gives Rosepetal that string back.]

Yue!

There's something familiar about fighting these machines.

Here comes a giant, five meters tall, eye lasers and stomping feet. Here comes a slender robotic martial artist with a rehearsed sidestep and open-palm chest strike. Here comes a trio of flying eagles scattering explosives behind them as they pass. Here they come, down they fall, but even though there's not one sword or one princess to be seen somehow this echoes all the other fights you've experienced before.

And then it occurs to you: This is Princess Kikil's sword!

This fast moving machine that fires crackling laser bolts as it strafes left is a sidestep slash. This rolling wheeled vehicle that screams down the street to try and ram you is a sudden thrust. This fireteam of five robots forming an improvised phalanx and advancing towards you is, um, her getting together with some handmaidens? Look, the analogy isn't perfect, okay? But the heart of it is. Each robot is a move. No robot's going to beat you by itself but it's how she chains them together that shows how she's thinking, what she's feeling. Sometimes she's looking to overcome you with fast paced combos of complimentary robots, sometimes she breaks out a special robot as a finisher move or as a surprise technique.

Thing is, if that's how she's fighting then you need to shift your strategy. If you stand here fighting every robot that comes your way you're doing the robot-fight equivalent of standing still trying to block and parry every attack. It means she'll get to do whatever techniques she likes and the entire fight will be according to her beat. And you can tell that's what she's trying for, too - she's sending in some really flashy flying robots with beautiful orbiting shields in the robot-fight version of doing really fancy sword techniques so that you're too busy saying 'oh gosh' to remember that you're supposed to be defending yourself and so you end up with a sword to your neck. Or teeth to your neck, in Hyra's case. She likes that style a lot.

And that means it's time to shake it up, Yue! Sure, this is an amazing way to fight, but Princess Kikil isn't the only one who can fight amazingly! Every girl you've fought on your way here has showed you a different way to fight all of their own, and right now something new is glowing inside of you. A Sunshard can make you fight them on their battlefield but that doesn't make them the boss of you!

It's time for you to set the pace!