Anarion

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

As the smoke bomb goes off, Kazelia leans over just a bit and makes a quick gesture. The punch bowl, already a little precarious, slips off the side of the refreshment table and the guardswomen who come running in to protect Ourania take a slip on the ground. Not that Kazelia had anything to do with that, somebody setting the table up just hadn't placed it centrally enough. But it did mean that nobody interfered with Kyouko. It was going to be such a lovely wedding.

And then all of a sudden, Kazelia was in a hug. The best hug. The coolness of Alina's tears and the warmth of her heart all mixed together with Adila's strong scales holding them all up. It was...it was perfect. It was perfect and Kazelia felt herself crying, the tears pooling softly and slowly running down her cheeks, leaving darker stains as the water pooled at her chin and then dripped off. She holds onto Alina and Adila tighter.

Kazelia sniffles. "Of course I'll visit! You can even lock me in the dungeon! Kyouko might complain if the sheets aren't good though, she's very sensitive" Kazelia says in a stage whisper. There is a distinct harumph from within the rapidly expanding smoke cloud, which Kazelia ignores, looking instead at Alina's beautiful green eyes and Adila's deep golden ones in turn.

"You helped me find a home when I never thought I had one. When I didn't think that I could ever belong anywhere. Even when I started and I still thought that all I could do for something I loved was to be fierce and powerful and I didn't have any idea how to be a princess, you let me join you. You were both so patient and wise, even when I screwed up. Even, even when you were afraid of me and I was messing things up, you still let me stay. I...everything I've done here, I couldn't have done it without both of you. Every one of my sisters, my brother, I'd never have been able to reach them without the little fire of hope that you helped me start. Wherever you are will always be home to me."

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Kazelia holds Kyouko's hand as they walk, while Kyouko steps carefully with her kimono between the chairs until they reach Ourania. Kazelia hesitates for a moment. In private, she might just call her Ourania, but she decides she should be a little more respectful in public, so she says "it's good to see you, Queen Ourania!" before giving her a formal bow that she quickly switches into a quick hug. This may or may not also permit Kyouko to gauge Ourania's reaction time to unexpected movement.

"This probably isn't the best time to give you my full report, but I'm happy to tell you that I didn't find any rot in any of the roots we visited. Some of the shrines around the world need cleaning and care, but I think none of the damage is permanent!" Kazelia beams, before blushing when she realizes Ourania almost certainly could tell that from her connection to Argossa's magic and just wanted Kazelia to make sure.

"Of course, you probably could already tell that, you just sent me around to double check! I bet you'll want to tell all the princesses during the party. Maybe get them in the right mindset to go home and finish cleaning things up. I bet if you mingle with everyone and get them to tell you a story of the shrines they loved when they were younger, it will help us learn more about the kingdoms and get them thinking about how to help fix things when they go back home. You'll get to learn new stories all about their fond memories and I can stay nearby and take some notes for songs. I think the princesses will really open up sharing happy stories like that."

Who wouldn't find stories of happy princess childhoods engrossing? Kazelia's idea was very good and would give Ourania a great way to mingle. And if she just happened to get really focused on a good story and stopped paying attention to her surroundings it wouldn't be anyone's fault if Kyouko took that moment to strike! Kazelia couldn't remember the last time she had been this excited! She was going to get to see Alina and Adila, and prepare for her own wedding!

Chuubo's GMD: Love and Shattered Alchemy

Jasper and Dulcinea!

Dulcinea, as you round the corner towards the front side of Shokyu's house, which overlooks a small shopping street, you see an intriguing young woman just sort of standing there as another drizzle picks up. She looks deeply in pain and your InnerTurmoilometer is reading off the charts! Despite this clear reading of what should be massive internal crisis, you feel an odd connection to this person, like she'd be strangely easy for you to get along with.

[This is something you'd be able to get an even better read on if you were to spend Will on your weather sense skill to do a really good job of weather science for this situation. A 4+ result there might give you some significant scientific and personal insight into the lady in front of you and your broader investigation, and a 6+ would let you be showy about it.]

Jasper, you're a bit caught up in yourself at the moment, but the young woman who rounds the corner with her umbrella and her journal out seems like someone you could talk to about your problems. More even than normal I mean. Maybe she could help break your curse? Or at least help you feel better about being cursed forever.

*****

Rinley! Ask and ye shall receive. This is a lovely slice of life XP action. I can just see the rain starting to pool on your lily pad as you stay and reflect on your family. From above, it starts as a few drops gathering in the center, almost helping you keep the lily pad's balance. But it starts getting heavier and the shape isn't quite regular so the water makes the stem start to list to one side. You subconsciously adjust, but there's more and more and the stem of a lily pad isn't really known for its tensile strength. So...after a few moments it tilts and SPLOOSH!!! there's a big puddle of water splashing on your head. Take 1 XP. Oh and here, while you're at it, flings take this Silver Something to Deal With Issue. It's not isolation, you were socializing with Dulcy earlier this week, but it's clear you're really focused on your thoughts. The Issue bounces near you with a distinctive *dink* sound. You now know that Silver issues go *dink*

[As a reminder, you get +1 MP for that, and you've now got the thought
You keep thinking about things you don’t want to think about. It’s uncomfortable. You want to distract yourself from it.]

You are immediately distracted by the sound of light, tinkling laughter carrying over the storm. It seems that at some point while you were lost in thought, that girl with the straw hair came up behind you to look at what you were doing. She's wearing a royal blue raincoat and holding what looks to be some kind of giant dandelion for an umbrella. It's sort of doing its job as the rain bounces and slides around the puffs and drips around her instead of on her, but it's looking sort of like it might get waterlogged if she doesn't find shelter soon.

"I think you forgot to empty your lily" she says with a laugh, but she's also reaching out a hand to help you up from your unceremonious soaking. Maybe it's time you both sought some shelter?

*****

Mila, the work is going well. Now that you've turned your attention to the corner, you've managed to dust things up without getting the lace on your dress dusty at all. You're working on replacing the boards, which is not too bad, you've found the studs in the wall easily enough to get the dry rot boards out and the supplies are safely out of the way in the corner.

Now, I do hate to break it to you, but there's someone at the door. Inside the door, actually. She's already opened it and is peaking inside at you. You and your thick maid's dress with its layers of poofy fabric and your lovely bonnet and all. She's got red hair worn loose. It's looking a bit windblown and it's hanging to just above her shoulders. Navy blue turtleneck and jeans, and a bright yellow umbrella.

"Oh hey, um, sorry if I'm...uh...intruding..." she says when she realizes you noticed her. "I just, I was walking over to Shokyu's cuz I figured she'd need some help, but I heard something here and I thought this place was abandoned, I mean, you know, because I've lived around here for a long while, like a long while, and it's been abandoned for most of that while, which is a thing I would remember. So, I mean, I figured I'd check it out when I heard somebody here. And um...I didn't know the owner had hired a maid! My name's Seizhi, it's very nice to meet you!"

She extends one hand while kind of working at lowering her umbrella one-handed with the other one.

[I'll note that your scene is invoking a Fortitude region property. If you wanted to do something here, mundane or miraculous, it might be better than normal. Or if you see a way that your hard work gets you into trouble as Seizhi enters the scene, you can pick up an extra MP for your future use.]

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

"We've decided on Cavaleria for now. Same idea, but we wanted something that sounded new. And besides, we didn't want to get confused for Rowan!" Kazelia helped Kyouko off Shiva and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before she turned to Jessamine with a warm smile that quickly became an even warmer hug. Kazelia returns it enthusiastically. Even Shiva neighs in appreciation, it's been a while since Jess got to ride her!

Kazelia's not dressed as she was before. She's kept the Argossian silver-birch for her cape, but she's clearly had a special one made for the occasion with embossed gold stitching in intertwining leaf patterns all along the back blooming upwards: almost a stylized image of the stone tree of Argossa that announces Kazelia's connection to her world.

Above that, her long hair is tied in a braided ponytail styled so it comes up and then falls over and past the left shoulder rather than straight down her back. The braid is woven with a fiery red thread, the brightest piece of color for the outfit along with the matching red swirls for the inner lining of her suit jacket. If she buttons it, you can't see the color, but she's got it open so that as it moves in the wind the inside flaps and makes effect almost like intertwined magatama stones in that same fiery red.

The rest of her suit is a more subtle black wool, not too thick but suitable for a damp Illumina. There's a single-breasted jacket with two gold buttons left open and a lower cut exposing some chest below the shoulders. She has matching pants in the same black wool, no pleat and slim fitting to reveal the contour of her legs. That ends with a pair of black rider's boots (shined for the day) to complete the effect and give it a practical air. Her blouse is a charcoal gray, notably lighter than the suit but still subtle to bring out the reds and the silver-birch of the cape. The blouse has wide cuffs at the wrists fastened with matching salmon pins to Kyouko's hairband. The blouse is low cut in line with the suit, and around her neck Kazelia is wearing a gold necklace with a single bright oval ruby hanging at its center, a gift of her fiancée for the occasion.

Jessamine might notice how comfortable Kazelia and Kyouko look with each other, the ease with which they manage the dismount even with Kyouko's voluminous kimono indicating no small amount of practice at the task. Not to mention that kiss, it's like they're already married, though surely Jess would have heard about it if there were a ceremony, so there must not have been one yet. Perhaps they could have been married back on Argossa when Kyouko had proposed, but Ourania had been in such a state that Kyouko wouldn't hear of kidnapping her (and Kyouko herself had been somewhat dazed after flying halfway to Axonia and back at high speeds). So they had decided to delay and now Kyouko was looking for the perfect opportunity to kidnap Ourania for the ceremony. Kazelia had insisted, out of politeness to Alina, that any moves wait until after the ceremony, but the many pockets of Kyouko's Kimono had a number of opportunities. All of this meant Kazelia couldn't quite hide her grin as Jessamine took the two of them in, and she hoped that Jess would simply attribute it to happiness for Alina's ceremony.

"You'll be happy to know that we've been to nearly all the queendoms and there's no sign of rot anywhere in Argossa's roots" she says before Jessamine exits with Shiva. "I'm confident in its strength...and ours." Then she lets the wise veneer slip and shifts into another grin, this one sincerely for Alina and their shared family. "I'm so excited! I can't believe we're all here already! This is going to be beautiful and Illumina looks ready for a celebration! Where do we sit?"

Chuubo's GMD: Love and Shattered Alchemy

Okay, let's fade out for a moment. Let me toss around some XP while I'm at it
[Rinley: I got an "oh no, Rinley!" from Dulcinea there, take 1 emotion XP. You also proposed a theory about your underlying situation, so that's an Adventure Get! XP.
Dulcinea: You got Rinley involved in your research. 1 Outside Stirs XP
Jasper: 1 emotion XP for DANCE CONTEST!
Mila: 1 emotion XP for being the recipient of DANCE CONTEST. Poor thing.]

*****

So, we started on a nice warm day, let's jump ahead. It's now the middle of the week, let's say Thursday. It's still spring, but the weather is looking foul today. Threatening clouds and a sporadic drizzle, plus there's been this flare up of Outside dust. It's ruining things near the docks especially more fragile and less well-maintained things. The wood's holding up, but old rope is fraying and giving out entirely, books are getting ruined if they aren't inside behind some good quality glass, produce that was left out is inedible, and rust and stains are appearing on metals and paints. Even clothing isn't totally safe, though if it's nice clothing that you've taken care of, it's probably holding up well enough.

Some places, it's acting extremely unfairly. Shokyou's little room in Fortitude seems to have drawn quite a lot of it, even through the closed windows, and her terrible agony at her lost comics ring out through the block.

Mila, your little shop that you've started working on seems to have gotten it badly as well. The dust snuck in under the door and found some old dry rot where you hadn't gotten around to refurbishing yet. Turns out it was weaker than expected and a whole set of shelves with at supplies gave out, dumping everything unceremoniously onto the floor near the back. The Archive where you're staying is pretty okay though, but you're going to have a lot of work just to get yourself back to how things were for your project.

*****

Jasper, the weather is terrible. Water fell from the sky earlier today! Is that supposed to happen? Maybe the sky is broken and it will just keep happening forever? Your stuff is pretty okay though, the dust just can't really get to you in a personal sense (and if it could, you have this uncanny feeling that you could just fix that and probably manifest some new power to go with it). But the world around you seems a bit the worse for wear. How in blazes are you going to manage a dance off with conditions like this?!

*****

Dulcinea, this is worse than normal and your equipment is picking up spikes that indicate the outside dust is behaving in a targeted way. This is two data points of unusual behavior. TWO! Do you know what you can do with two data points? You can draw a line! A LINE, Dulcinea. Lines have slopes and they indicate things like trends that predict future results. Any more data points and you might need to do Statistics.

You've got a couple pretty good leads. You're close enough to notice the impact on Shokyou and you can tell even from a distance that the Archive is weathering this better than normal. Either one could provide you with not only more data, but better data! You might even get some proper thaumaturgical readings for your notebook. Moreover, the odds of this being connected to dinosaur shrine maidens are low, but you can't rule out that possibility either without some investigation.

So, where do you go?

*****

And lastly, Rinley. I get the sense that not even an outside storm can really keep you down. You could intervene in any of the goings on of your friends (the new girl with the sunny disposition is definitely going to hold a dance off sometime today, you can feel it). But, if I had to guess, I think you're looking for that girl with her straw hair in the twin braids. The one you didn't quite manage to connect with because Dulcinea impressed you into making graphs. But now you've got the chance to look and a couple days of exploits with which to regale a new friend! Where do you think you'll find the lovely young lady?

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

The World Seed. It's a misnomer, it doesn't sprout into new worlds. Instead it's a huge, perfect diamond that Oberon infused with his essence ages ago that it holds forever (at least so long as the diamond is perfect). It's a source of corruption. Place it somewhere and the area around it becomes cold and dark, like Oberon at his core. Place it somewhere like a central place in Argossa, itself infusing the whole world with magic and you get...well, you get what's happening with Ourania and Argossa right now.

It's been a long time since Oberon used this. It was rarely needed on most worlds and it vastly accelerates the process of the world becoming cold and barren, meaning in the past it was something like a failsafe for him: if he couldn't take what he wanted and properly loot a world, he'd use his World Seed to ruin it. If Oberon couldn't have something, then nobody could.

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

When Jessamine takes off with Shiva, Kazelia gives her a short nod of respect and gives Shiva a special whistle. Jessamine has flown on Shiva a few times now, they're a good pair, but Shiva is careful with a new rider. The Pegasus has to be careful with one who hasn't been carried by her through the void. But this whistle, it's the one to go fast. As fast as she can. Fast enough to race through the great darkness beyond the worlds and come out the other side. Fast enough to catch a princess thrown even with the strength of devils.

Hold on, Kyouko! And hold on tight, Jessamine! [Shiva is damaging her Flight to ensure a perfect catch happens.]

*****

Back atop Argossa, Kazelia pulls back as Jessamine goes for a decisive strike. She smiles at Alina with a pride that shines in her eyes.
[Adding a new bond with Alina: She overcame her fear and shone more brilliantly than any rainbow. I'll always believe in her.]

Kazelia's smile is cut short when Oberon makes a last, desperate effort and grabs Ourania, sending cracks through the corrupted Argossa. Kazelia is caught, unwilling to risk Ourania, knowing that if Oberon harms her to spite them all, it's still a victory for him. Only...there's Alina again, and Rita! Kazelia's breath catches in her throat and there are tears in her eyes as she watches Alina leap off the edge, the ribbon fluttering out and Rita making the perfect catch. And then they're enveloped in a supernatural darkness and surrounded by a blazing heart of flame as Adila strikes and Oberon hurtles through the pillars formed of Argossa's branches that reach towards the heavens. The sky lightens and a little bit of sunshine peeks through the clouds.

Kazelia takes a deep breath as she slings her spear across her back. She gathers her hands together at the base of her stomach, palms facing upwards, fingertips almost touching as she holds her strength at the center of the body where the weight of the breath gathers.

It's been a long time since anyone has seen Kazelia fully unleash her magic. Only Alina (and Eska) saw it back in Askaia, when shadows gathered and it seemed as though a tear opened in the world and the void reached out for Eska. The fear that Kazelia had seen that day had made her hesitate to ever use such powers again.

She's not the same person she was back then. Mother Void's power courses through her, but she is completely and fundamentally herself. Some of the power she channels is Mother's and there is a vague and menacing sense of becoming larger than herself that rolls off of her as she takes in her breath. But that sense of herself is why the magic that forms is not the magic of the dark. It's a flowing magic, like a great river of her heart, roaring and hissing, rising from her like steam and cascading down towards Oberon in a vast waterfall. In a little nod to her time with Eupheria and her friendship with Alina, it swirls with all the colors of the rainbow. Because of her friendship with Adila and influenced by that incredible, breathtaking display, at the head of the flow leaps the silhouette of a great dragon racing up and up and then rushing down towards Oberon.

It strikes him and lifts him as the dragon of water and rainbows surges forward, beyond even the strength of the devils to stop. Kazelia takes another breath and a step forward. Slowly, calmly, a rainbow wave cascades around her carrying Oberon at its crest. Kazelia walks up to Adila and puts a hand on her side, and walks the two of them over to take Alina's hand as she's finished gathering herself near the edge of Argossa.

There is a moment where it seems uncertain. He struggles at the edge of Argossa, trying with all his strength and fury to claw himself downwards, grab the princesses, and hurl them from their perch. It seems perhaps that the magic will run dry, that this hateful old man wielding the power of the great devils is unstoppable and immortal. Only then, there is a single perfect ringing crack that rebounds through Argossa and with a laugh and a finger wag, the grandmothers burst from the gemstone at his breast and scramble or fly away from the magical stream. Oberon tries to let out a final curse, some last pronouncement of his hatred, but his strength flies as quickly as the grandmothers fly from him. Before he can have his last word, he is engulfed and torn away, lifted up and off, fading into the stream of magic until there is nothing more of Oberon to be seen.

Only then does Kazelia let out her breath and sag into Adila's side with an exhausted smile.

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Kazelia nods and takes the amulet. She had hoped he would stay, but that was good enough. She places it over her own head and the magical command rings out across the garthim: be still!. They're a distraction and it's time to give the gathered princesses a chance to focus. They made a much better guest list than a bunch of giant crabs.

It was only then that Kazelia drew her spear and turned her attention to her father. Fire sprang to life up and down the haft of the spear, its glow reflecting the fire in her eyes that blazed fiercely. It swirled past her arm and skirting the edges of her poofy dress and stockings. She wasn't about to ruin a perfectly good wedding outfit! As she strode forwards, she saw Alina hold onto Rita then roll away from Oberon's boot as he slammed the floor hard enough to spread cracks away from the spot and gripped her spear tighter. She saw Jessamine swoop down and quickened her pace, Mary Janes scraping over the stone floor. She saw Oberon grab the princess from atop Shiva with all his strength, yanking Jess from the saddle, and that was when Kazelia struck.

[Keep Busy: 2+5+2=9. His attention is all on Kazelia, but he'll retaliate when time is up.]

She let out a loud snarl, hundreds of years of suppressed rage compacted into an instant. Her spear raked across his back and the flame left scorch marks along his wedding suit. It wasn't enough to truly injure him, but it was enough to make him forget Jessamine and turn away from her, Alina, and Rita for the moment. As he turns, she strikes again with a quick thrust straight for the stomach. It forces him to parry with his bare hands, getting them a little singed even as his strength lets him push the spear aside. Again, and again, and again, she circles him and strikes, feinting and pressing, constantly singing him and never letting him have the time to fully recover himself. Kazelia forces him to slowly give ground, a single step, then another. As she does, her breathing becomes more even and she regains her voice.

"A thousand years ago, you dragged our me from our home! You dragged my sisters away! A home that you ruined! You pulled us into the dark, you froze our hearts, you threw us to the void, and for what?! To make us your tools?!" There are tears in her eyes. In Feloria, she hadn't known yet. She had been just at the cusp of regaining herself, of remembering her mother and her family, her years of journeys. It had taken time to get even that far, and then more time to see what he had been doing, to understand Mother Void, to face her sisters and her brother. It had been so slow, first. Nearly a year from the tiny strain of distant song until the moment that it became too much for her heart and she had to leave. Recently, it had been like a whirlwind, new friends, new places, discovering the kindness and joy in her heart, the beauty and the song that she wanted to share.

As the dance continued, her breathing calmed, but her spear strikes grew faster. She settled into a rhythm, driven not by anger, but by a steady beat at the center of her soul. Mother spoke next, through her. "Your truth is Want, Oberon. You want everything to be yours. You want everything to be about you! You made our family depend on you. But want blinds you. You're so blind, you can't even see that I'm not the same daughter you lured here by promising I'd get to see the stars. I've grown. I've forgiven my family. I've taken Mother Void into my heart and offered her something you never could. That's...that's why you've lost the people you made." Yes, yes, yes Mother thinks, and she would like nothing more than a dissection of every lie, veneer, and facade that Oberon has ever worn. But this is not that time. This is the time to move past him after so long.

"I thought that I was just going to take revenge for everything that you did, Oberon. Tear away your people and your family, save this world, and be done with everything I ever needed to do. But what I've realized is that would have still made everything about you. I'm tired of that." The flames blaze as she twirls and twin strands of fire try to enwrap Oberon like a great snake, forcing him onto his heels and away from the heat as he tries and fails to grab the spear. "We are going to stop you together, save Ourania, Argossa and this whole world. Then when we're done, I'm going to build a life here with my sisters and my brother, with my friends, and without you in it."

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Princess Kazelia Swiftlance smiles and there are tears in her eyes, full of stars and simmering fire. Cassian had been planning to skip the objections, so Jessamine's timing was perfect. Everything about this was perfect and beautiful and true to Hyperborea. You see, Mother. There is truth, and there is beauty, and they can come together and make something even greater.

But first, in the center of the chaos there is one heart that's still unsteady. One heart that hasn't made its final choice yet. Oh Cassian? What happened to you in all those ages where all their hearts were frozen over? When did you go from being a sweet child to feeling so out of control? To the need to pretend and act like Oberon because you couldn't see any other way to keep yourself safe? Everything had been like it was for such uncounted time, and yet she still saw him as a sweet boy to tease and have fun together. He didn't want that anymore and he deserved better. That was what made Hyperborea special: that people could do better, be better, feel better here.

Kazelia nodded to Alina, her gold vexing every one of Oberon's toys. And she waved to Adila, who filled the room with glorious light and fire in her majesty. But her stride was to Cassian who had a dumbstruck look on his face. And before there were words, there was a gentle touch. The softest hand on his shoulder. He still jumps like a rabbit, but he is not restrained. Kazeila's voice is clear, trained to be heard even over a battle, but here it is calming and gentle.

"Cassian. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not seeing you, even after we were all free of Father's power. I'm sorry for not seeing the things you care about and teasing you. But you don't have to do this. You don't have to be like Father to earn respect. You don't need to hurt people to have power. Look at all this." She waves a hand as Shiva swoops past them and Jessamine comes in for another pass even as Alina's gold cuts the string on the bow of Midnight Shadows and renders it useless. "Nobody respects Oberon. What he does creates nothing but hate. I don't think you've ever wanted that. You've always liked making things beautiful. Even this ceremony, I know you designed it all and you made it in grand Hyperborean style even now."

Kazelia pauses. She's thinking about how to say it. That last little step. Does she tell him what she wants? Does she give him the freedom to choose? What does Cassian need to light the fire in his heart? "Cassian I...used to think that being strong meant being like Father too. Powerful magic, a deadly spear, and I'd jump straight away to crush anything that got in my way. I was always out front, the first and fastest to battle because I thought that if I destroyed everything before it could act, nothing could hurt me." She smiles, looks herself over herself with her poofy dress and her Mary Janes. "and now I let you dress me so that I could get here and be here for my friends. What I learned in Hyperborea is respect isn't something you get by trying to take it. It's something you get by giving it away. So, what do you want, Cassian? What kind of man do you want to be?"

[Wisdom Finish: 3+5+1=9. So he'll damage a stat. If I can roll with hope with all the aid of all these friends nearby, one of those dice is a 4 and that's a 10.]

Chuubo's GMD: Love and Shattered Alchemy

Well Rinley, Edelgard is enjoying your scritches and belly rubs. Yes he is! Yes he is! These aren't the best belly rubs he's ever had in his life, mind you (that honor belongs to one of your siblings, care to tell me which one is the best cat-speaker in your opinion?). But this is good, quality scritch scritch on a lovely day. So, Edelgard lets slip, in his meowing way, that where you need to be is near the downtown cafes. There's someone there that the cats can see, and that you can see, and while Edelgard doesn't really understand something like a glass dragon (being "not a cat" it can't really be that important) he understands shiny pretty glass being in unusual places. You kind of understand intrinsically that you should be there.

Now if you'll just let me...scooch you...a little bit...oh look you've made your way downtown despite the sun beating down on you! And look, there are two really notable things in front of you! One is Dulcinea, who appears to be engaged in some kind of...cafe relay race maybe? Wind sprints? She's zipping in and out of the same cafe at variable speeds as you enter the scene is what I'm saying.

The second is some kid about your age with her straw hair in two braids sitting on the steps near the cafe. She's not remarkable or anything. No romance going on, so Dulcinea wouldn't have particularly noticed her. I bet you think she's important though!

There's a lot to do here, this is what happens when cats are forthcoming with information, I guess. What are you going to do?

*****

Oh Dulcinea, look, it's Rinley coming down the road here. Also, pretty much the whole cafe is staring at you right now, what with popping up to manipulate an umbrella and then your little fall, your dramatic coffee+ice cream finish and your exit followed by reentry sprint. It's a little speedy for Fortitude, you're going at just above the typical pace of life and you now find yourself the center of attention. The host, who's a bit of an older fellow, maybe in his fifties and obviously doing this because he likes the chance to meet people coming into the restaurant leans over and asks in a casual way "everything all right, miss?"

What's your response to being the center of attention?

Also, how do you know Rinley? Is it only from requests to measure the precise amount of wuv in a kitty's tummy? Perhaps you've got some background. What emotions are sparked seeing her coming down the lane and being obviously spotted out?

*****
Jasper and Mila!

[Jasper, take two XP. One's an XP for wrestling with some nameless feeling of loss. The other one is for proposing a theory about your world.]
[Mila, take an XP for being suspicious about your other identity. I mean, I doubt Jasper noticed, but I think you're being a little suspicious.]

You're talking. But for your info, a normal person who is a Fortitude resident would be relatively nonchalant in this scene, even if she were to conclude that one or both of you were goddesses. Fortitude's got plenty a goddess in it. They deserve respect, don't get me wrong, but it's really nothing to get huffy over. I don't mean to interrupt though, carry on.