Anarion

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Kazelia sighs. "First, I intend to defeat Father. Utterly, finally and completely. There's no redeeming him, and whatever facade he wears as a man is just a mask for his selfish essence. That is...a grim thing to say, I admit." She nods to Ninian more to Azora, who she suspects understands the nature of these things a bit already. "I also need to manage that without...giving myself up. I've taken the Void into myself, there's every chance that whatever ends up happening with Father, I don't come out of it as a normal person who can just walk around the world and eat spicy sausages with couscous." She sighs again. "And I don't want that. I'll do what I have to do, but I don't want it. I'm not done here. We've all been in Hyperborea only a few years. And I promised Mother when she came to me that I would show her this world. Full of life and joy and kisses! If I'm able, I'm going to stay with my friends, perhaps I'll live in Illumina. I think I ought to travel though. I might give concerts, write some kind of ode to all of this, tell our story to all the kingdoms and write new songs. Maybe Ourania will even invite me to Argossa to perform there. I'd love to have tea with the Sun again.

Kazelia lets herself ramble like this. Maybe Azora and Ninian would see the effect Hyperborea could have on people. The way she thought about grand things and little things all right next to each other. If she could try to nail it down, that was the beauty of this little world. It had cat hugs and good food next to vast serpents and a queen whose soul was fire who lived on a great stone tree that was the very pillar of the world. Vast and beautiful and tiny and personal all wrapped up together. Ah, if only Oberon could see it, could understand that others things had the right to just be as they were outside of him. Then maybe everything could be different.

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

"I think that's a great idea!" Kazelia says, honestly enthusiastic. Ninian as a hairdresser just seems incredibly right somehow. The logic made sense and Kazelia felt like Ninian would love meeting people and learning about what they felt made them beautiful. It was honestly exciting! "And, although I think our sister delivered her point too critically, I think Azora does have a good point that we're all still princesses. I'm sure that wherever you go, Ninian, people will look to you to be a leader and to help them solve their local problems, whether they're rampaging beasts that need taming, natural disasters, or a few local criminals that need some help. I'm sure you'll be up to the task of being a hairdresser and a local princess. Maybe you can even go to Feloria and study some new magic during your free time, I bet that would help with creative styles too!"

Unspoken: perhaps some Riders could go with Ninian too. Feloria has a lot of space, a small group might be welcome there. Kazelia isn't certain that there needs to be a new, separate Rider Queendom. It might be better if they spread out, small groups going one place and another, learning about different cultures and places in Hyperborea. Maybe they could have some kind of meeting once a year, like a pilgrimage to Argossa to share what they've learned and meet with Ourania to help become a more normal part of Argossa. Her mind is whirring, but for the moment she's not offering any of this because she's focused on Ninian and on Azora. Trying to help them see how its possible to relate and even to be critical without being so mean.

Monster Hearts: Sleepshy Rise

DARKEST SELF

"Oh Timmy" Annalee gives him a big, pig-included group hug. "Samael did make me say those things. He hypnotized me so that I thought finding you and bringing you to him was the most important thing in the world, worth doing anything for. I had no choice. I said those things to the werewolf because I knew with her natural talents she would be able to find you, and I was sure I could get you to Samael once I had found you. Now, come along, we can discuss this inside instead of kneeling in a hall. And I have a friendly pig to help decurse if she promises to be good and not try to kick me in the head."

Annalee picks up Timmy, still half supporting him while holding Carmen in her other arm and practically pulls the group of them into the room.

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

It amused Kazelia in light of the last adventure that the first thing that came to her head was the analysis. Her eyes hadn't changed because she had absorbed Mother into herself and she was infused with the energy of the void, the essence of what made a Rider and why travel between the stars was so dangerous. It wasn't something that could just be gone, it was already nothing, even its absence was something. Eupheria's curses had been really good that way. Bringing out a little piece of what was inside people, playing it up, making it take over every other part of them. She wondered, for a very brief moment, if Alina wanted to be a cat sometimes. Maybe she'd ask later, that would be fun.

This wasn't the time for that kind of theory though. That wasn't what Azora was really asking. Kazelia looked at her with those starry eyes. "Azora, my eyes didn't change because Mother and I agreed to stay together. She's right here with me. She's seeing the world through my heart. I've done a lot since we've been apart. I've felt things that I didn't think I could ever feel again." She puts her hand on Azora's, a gentle touch. It's not like a Rider's, it has that Rider chill but an odd warmth to it too, not frigid like a normal Rider, but rather like a spring breeze over a melted river. And under that, Azora's hand is warm, full of life that she hasn't had in so many ages uncounted that she forgot what she's feeling. She, more than any of the others had wanted to forget.

Kazelia turns to Ninian, hand still on Azora's. "Let her answer. There's a whole world out here, and I'm guessing you might have a few ideas." Kazelia turns her Ninian as she's speaking, addressing her with a warm smile. "What do you think you'd like to do Nins? It doesn't have to be something you're sure about, and don't worry if it's a little embarrassing, we won't judge, not even Azora."

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

"Yeah, crazy. Beyond my wildest dreams." Kazelia smiles and cuts herself a slice of her own sausage, which she eats with a little couscous and butter. It's delicious, hearty fare, spiced with a bit of chili from the Bazaar and it makes her feel alive as she swallows it. She looks at Azora, studiously not looking back at her. "You know one thing I love about Hyperborea? It's got competition but it's not about competition the way that our lives used to be. With Father, it always felt like we had to compete, there was that fear that if you weren't the best, or weren't doing enough, you'd be abandoned. I always worried that all the nice things I wanted would go to somebody else if I didn't make him proud. Here though, it's not like that. There are contests, sure. Princesses compete to see who's fastest or strongest, who's the most graceful or the best craftswoman. But if you're not those things, they don't mock you or ridicule you. Instead they help you find the things you are good at and the things that make your heart fill with light and a smile creep onto your face. I'd forgotten that I love to sing and dance before I came here."

Kazelia takes another bite. Chews, swallows, takes a drink of some spiced wine to go with it. Then she looks at Ninian, not Azora. Starting the conversation first. "what do you think you want to do, Nins?"

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Kazelia's sudden hug feels like being wrapped in a fluffy blanket after a long, hard day. She might be soaked through from the rain and the waterfall, she might still be a little cold, but the joy radiating from her is so strong that it overcomes everything else. Eupheria's sudden defeat was a whooping, singing triumph. Alina's landing is relief so thick that it seems for a moment as though Kazelia would collapse entirely if she were not leaning into Alina for support.

Jessamine is right there with her and follows the same cue, joining the hug wordlessly. It's almost a mirror of Jessamine's miracle in Jedad, but Kazelia isn't standing off to the side keeping guard this time, she's right there with everyone. They hold Alina tightly, gently, wordlessly, for as long as it's possible to hold a breath. And then...no this isn't like the series of thefts earlier. This isn't the moment where Jess takes advantage of vulnerability to grab the Cadeuceus or Kazelia magically yanks it from a relaxed hand. This is the moment where Kazelia lets out her breath and smiles and looks Alina right in the eyes. "I'm so glad you stayed. I'm so glad. You're not weak, Alina. You're strong. You're so strong. The strongest princess here. Stronger than anyone! You were strong enough to take the Caduceus and strong enough to ask for help giving it up."

Kazelia draws her cloak over it, over Alina's arm. She's still holding it, but for a moment nobody can see anything but the shape of the staff beneath the dark silver birch of the soaking wet Argossian fabric. Maybe it's imagination, but maybe for a moment that makes things easier, makes the Caduceus a little bit more quiet in Alina's mind as it's hidden beneath something made of the great tree that marks the very center of Hyperborea and whose roots reach beneath them, even here. Kazelia leans her head into Alina. "I can't promise you'll never be cold or that things won't be hard. But...knowing what that feels like is what sweetens the joys of the world. Knowing pain is how we grow and gain wisdom. When I...when I said I admired you in the hot springs in Alvonia..." Kazelia blushes at bringing this up in front of Jessamine but presses on, "...um, I didn't really understand you then. But I do now. You're strong because you hurt so much. Because you keep pressing on and never give up even though you're hurting so much. That's why, that's why I know you're going to do something no princess has ever done and let go of the Caduceus. Then we're going to wrap it up here and find a way to make it safe so nobody else has to go through this again. How does that sound?"

Monster Hearts: Sleepshy Rise

DARKEST SELF

Annalee looks quite taken aback (she turns Carmen so she'll notice too). "I did need a reason to curse you before, and that reason was that I was in the presence of a vampire. I mean really, Timmy, I was interrupting your one on one session with that vampire the other night, you're being very silly not remembering. Unless today was a big act, you obviously don't want to be with him, so I'd think you'd be more grateful!" She gives a slight huff.

"Yes, I did have to curse you at his request, but he's powerful and can hypnotize people, and I had to protect my own life once you'd escaped! Protecting life is the most important thing there is, Timmy! And really, I can use magic, but it's not very different from little Carmen here..." she hefts Carmen for emphasis "who's spent years training to be able to fight monsters and has picked up lots of skills and powers as a result. I'm sure she could manage a few curses with the right enchanted item, herself. And I'm sure that if you all come inside I can help lift her curse and we can sort this all out. Now there's a good boy, hmm?" She leans over and lifts Timmy's chin a little so he can look in her eyes and see what an honest, pure soul she's being.

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

She wanted to sing. Alina was so beautiful. So incredibly, painfully beautiful. Kazelia wanted to sing her praises forever and exalt her in the halls of the greatest princesses in all the universe. But she knew it was a lie. Mother knew, she had been railing against everything the Caduceus made since they first got here because none of it was true. The Caduceus was an overlay that fell over people, a cheat from the devils that simply altered reality. But Mother knew that cheating wasn't truth. Magic might be someone's truth (it was probably a part of how Kazelia's was expressed, likely Azora's as well) but changing yourself with magic never changed your truth.

Also, all that philosophical reflection aside, Kazelia wanted her friend back. The happy ending here wasn't replacing one Caduceus wielder with another, distant and open only to worship and painting reality as her canvas. A happy ending was having her friend back and saving the world from Oberon and mad devil things alike!

That's why Kazelia's answer to this wasn't to raise her spear or gesture for Kyouko to use her ninja tools (don't think she wasn't paying attention). Instead it was to drop that spear and let the rainwater run over it without any steam hissing up from its fire. It was to stand beneath Alina and raise her arms in a gesture of begging and just say one thing. "I stopped singing because I don't want to lose my friend, Alina. Please, come back to us. To me."

Monster Hearts: Sleepshy Rise

[Keep cool 4+4+2=10]

Annalee, impatient with luxuriating on Elodie's bed, pulls the door open. Out jumps the pig and Annalee catches her in her arms and gives her a little noogie. "Who's a cute little pig, Carmen? Is it you? It is you! You're very cute." She lifts Carmen up and holds her, then gives her a hug because she is a cute little piggy and she deserves hugs. This is probably not going the way that Carmen expected, but Annalee is practically aglow so good is she feeling.

That does leave the little matter of Timothy Oglevee Crompton though. "Timmy dear" she says, turning Carmen around in her arms so that Timmy can look at the pig. "I asked you to watch this little fellow and what do I find when I open the door? She's running around loose and jumping all over the place. I appreciate your patience, you're welcome to come in now, but I think you need to explain yourself or you're going to be in a great deal of trouble."

[Question to the MC (from the 10+ cool roll): How could Annalee get Carmen to like her (and stop trying to kill her)?]

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Were they still in the Bazaar after all this? Cool clear water flowed downwards and Kazelia (Kazelia!) had to try and remember that they weren't in the heart of the Illumina that had once been. A little part of her heart came free with the flowing water. All the nerves and energy that she'd been saving up, all the burdens of the world that she had been trying to shoulder, thinking that her curse was somehow more tolerable than those of her friends. Ha! Alina had done it, they were all free and her mind felt clear.

With a whoop that burst like a thunderhead, Kazelia jumped into the air and thrust her spear skyward as sparkling raindrops tinkled along its length and wet her tongue. She twirled amidst the rain and laughed in her own voice. Her voice! It was clear! It was loud! Its echo bounced around the glass room like sparkling crystal in the heart of the rainfall and joined hands with her laughter to dance among the rafters and soar to the glittering clouds.

She sang a few words experimentally. "A summer rain came calling. Playing peek-a-boo with the summer sun. It sparkled out like diamonds, falling softer than fresh down. The sun thought this delightful, and laughed a merry song. It tried to glimpse the ground below, though it hadn't rained for long. What do you suppose, the sun song down below? Why a truth that every child knows the sun had just now seen: sunlight in petrichor times means rainbows come to gleam!"

The joy in her heart was infectious, and every princess in the hall would feel for a moment as though their heart wanted to join in the same silly song. It was only at the end as she laughed again that she saw Alina still above them, and still holding the Caduceus even though her task was done. Only then that a little shadow of doubt started to creep up to Kazelia and she started racing along the wet floors to get below her friend and call to her. "Alina, you can come down now!" She shouted and waited for a response.