Benzaiten

Pursuit of Power

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_{Mentions: @Lord Zee • @Jinxer}

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The sound of birds chirping peacefully awoke the princess on this morning. The sun was shining brightly through the wide windows, the warm ray of light sitting on her face, softly nudging her to open her forest green eyes. Evangeline blinked against the morning sun, the brightness not allowing her to keep her eyes open just yet.

She felt a comfortable warmth from behind her back and something unknown draped over her stomach. Wind was blowing into her ear, it disturbed her attempt to continue her slumber. With a turn of her head she managed to escape the brightness of the day at least by a little bit, enough to be able to keep her eyes open.

Another blow of wind hit her cheek. Or rather a breath, as she came to notice. Red hair framed the harmonious looking face. Laurel was still asleep, breathing onto her skin. Her body reacted to the situation quicker than her mind could analyse it, beating her thinking mind with a warmth spreading throughout her chest area and a tingling sensation building in her stomach. It was giving Eve a mixed feeling of unease and excitement. She turned her head away from the beautiful woman and was blinded once more by the morning sun.

The warmth of her chest continued to grow into a fastened heartbeat as the tingling sensation in her stomach spread through her legs. The unease overpowered the excitement quickly and Eve rolled away from the woman, resting on her stomach in safe distance. Frustrated she buried her face into her pillow.

After lying still like this, breathing into the pillow as best as she could, her mind got control over her body again. Her heartbeat normalized, her stomach lost the tingling and her logical thinking began to kick in finally.

Today would be challenging and draining. The event of last night had to be addressed. Brave men and women had to be buried, respectfully mourned and acknowledge, whoever beat the beast would receive a grand gesture from the Exodus Kingdom, the guests and the citizens would be awaiting a formal speech from the royal family, a few words of sorrow and encouragement. There were political aspects to be considered. How did the beast get so deep into the city without an alarm having rung out much earlier? Has the tragedy weakened the rows of Earthica guards enough to cause a serious danger to the royal family's safety? Would the Kingdoms be pointing fingers, blaming, accusing, while planning in the background? Evangeline hated politics and everything that came with them. The secrecy, the lack of freedom, the possibility of everything being a scam, being a trap, being a planned out scenario to take them down, harm them, cause them trouble.

A soft knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. The princess pushed herself up from her position to take a seated one instead before she called out for whomever to enter.

The door opened quietly and a woman in her early 50s entered through it, closing it behind herself. Her hair, tightly in a bun, was gray already, her face had an endearing youthfulness to it, she had a tiny round nose and very warm honey eyes. The lady was rather small with a round body type.

"Pearl", Eve exclaimed happily.

"Princess", the maid addressed her respectfully. She raised a hand to show her a note. "The events for today, I hope you do not mind me having opened it?" Eve just gave her a soft smile. Pearl has been her maid since she could remember and she had been more like a mother figure to her. It was cliche, but they shared a special bond and Pearl never shied away from treating her like a daughter, if they were alone, sometimes causing her to overstep her boundaries, which Evangeline didn't mind too often. "The tragic event must have left you shaking, my darling. How are you feeling this morning?"

Evangeline looked at the face, those wrinkles around her honey eyes so familiar to her, the softness of her arms seemed so inviting. But she restrained herself. "I am indeed shaken, to say the least. Those poor souls surely did not deserve the end they found. So far away from home, protecting a Kingdom that was not theirs. And of course those poor families, broken hearted, I can not imagine. I shall pay my most respect to those fallen. If it wouldn't have been for my loyal guard, I would have swung myself at the beast alongside my men. Heaven knows they deserved my attendance."

"And she was right to interfere with your impulsive plans!", Pearl scolded her, arms crossed in front of her bosom. "You would not have been any good on the battlefield, Eve. Endangering your precious life. Warriors distracted by their honest need to offer you protection. You would have caused a mess."

Evangeline crossed her arms in front of her chest, mirroring Pearl. She felt hurt in her pride. "You do realize I am quiet good at what I do, aye?"

"I know you are excellent in what you do, my darling. And yet, a battlefield of such is not the place for a lady of your status. A slaughter might describe the scenery better, in fact." She left a short pause, but as soon as Eve tried to continue their disagreement Pearl interrupted her. "The note states a large feast will be held during night to mourn and honor the victims of the unfortunate tragedy. You are invited to get breakfast alongside other guests and take a stroll around the Kingdom, if you wish. I urgently recommend for you to stay inside the palace walls for the day. And Princess Valeri Andora of Primfira has sent a runner to deliver you the invitation to accompany her on a walk, she would be pleased to make your acquaintance."

The news of another feast didn't go well with Eve. She had expected a ceremony to be held, in respect to the ones who lost their lives, in honor of those who fought bravely, as an opportunity to show compassion and mourn over the tragedy. But another feast, late at night as well, concerned the princess. She was not used to this kind of socializing, so much buzz. She was unsure if she could make it through another one of Exodus' feasts.

The news of Princess Valeri asking for her company surprised her though. It seemed only logical that a princess like Valeri would want to stay away from the bad reputation that surely surrounded Evangeline, if any. But then again, it would be politically important to meet all Kingdom's royalty on such an occasion and attempt to gain a sort of new knowledge about them. Valeri, upon having seen her for the first time, did not give Evangeline a comfortable feeling. Something about the woman had warned her to not let her guard down. She would have to be careful. Another aspect of politics that Evangeline greatly disliked.

"Be so kind to send someone to let her know I will be meeting her in the garden in two hours. I am looking forward to our walk." A short moment of thought passed before she spoke again. "And have you, by any chance, heard from my parents? I am sure my father has a plan for the day already. He must be furious with the loss of men we have to face today."

"No, princess, no words from your parents. Although the tragedy has cost our Kingdom many good men, we still have to offer the one man that slaughtered the beast in the streets and ended the nightmare for us all."

Eve looked at her warm honey eyes with surprise. She had somehow expected the conqueror to be an Exodus warrior or perhaps a Primfira one. The thought of one of her own men having struck the beast filled her with a certain pride, but also with concern. She couldn't help but feel there was something odd about the entire situation. She gave Pearl a nod to acknowledge the information she had shared with her. Later in the day she would have to speak with him and show him her respect.

Pearl ended the conversation by waving with her arms and saying, "Now hurry to your bath, young princess. You shall look fine on this very day." Hurriedly the maid walked to the bath to prepare it for Evangeline.

The princess gave her sleeping friend a soft smile before allowing Pearl to get her ready for the day.

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One bath, one elegant dress and an up-do-hairstyle later Pearl was happy enough with Evangeline to let her go. The princess had allowed the maid to put her into a dark gown for this day, to show respect. Eve had figured that today of all days was the wrong one to be stubborn. The dress, which Pearl must have organized for her, knowing Evangeline would not have an appropriate gown in her repertoire, was of black color. It had a very low cut out backside and a slim fit that showcased Evangeline's hips perfectly. There were a few golden elements worked into the gown, that made it look very elegant, but still humble. The real eye-catch, making any accessories unnecessary, was her fiery red hair, shining even brighter in the contrast to the black dress. It was done in an elegant up-do, held by a gorgeous piece of golden jewelry that neatly matched the golden aspects of the gown. Evangeline looked nothing like the wild thing with a messy red mane, dirty boots and short pants that she was yesterday. She had been transformed into a stunning woman with eye-catching flaming hair, make up that made her deep green eyes stand out even more and a dress that didn't hide any of her curves. Pearl had done an impeccable job.

The whole thing had taken slightly less than two hours. Evangeline was already running a little late for her walk with Princess Valeri. Nonetheless Eve did not hurry in the slightest. She took the time to check up on her friend one more time, tugging her in as best as she could and giving her hand a soft squeeze. "It pains me to not be here when you wake up. Rest well. You do need it." She turned away from her friend and left the room. Two Earthica guards were positioned in front of the door with orders from the princess to let absolutely no one other than herself and Laurel inside. They had orders to guard Laurel and not take their eyes off of her for a second until told otherwise. A job that none of the men were happy about. Laurel was about as easy to guard and watch over as Evangeline herself. She would not make it easy on them.

Walking through the palace the princess received more than a few looks, most of which came from Earthica men and women. The sight of Evangeline in a dress was rare enough, but the princess having her hair up and done neatly and accompanied by two guards following her was quiet an unusual sight.

The princess calmly made her way to a wonderfully decorated room, art pieces across the walls, mahogany furniture with impressive details, food on tables everywhere. The latter being the most interesting part to her, obviously. Evangeline, although very hungry, only ordered a servant to make her a piece of bread to take with her, along with an apple. She waited standing while food got prepared and took the wrapped up provisions with her as she continued her way to the garden. She arrived only a little late for her walk with Princess Valeri.

Although the garen being a big place, Eve had no trouble finding the woman quickly. Her white hair was easy to spot from afar, the pale skin seemingly reflecting the sun. As Evangeline approached the princess she put on a soft smile. "Princess Valeri, please excuse me for keeping you waiting. I do hope it has not been too long?" She did not feel the need to give her an explanation for her late arrival. "It is so lovely to finally make your acquaintance."

Her first impression of Valeri from up close was distracted by the unique, special dress she wore. It looked a lot like a costume to Evangeline. But perhaps that was ordinary attire for royalty in Primfira. Other than her abstract dress, Evangeline noticed the way she held herself. With so much pride, confidence and ease. Her chin slightly upwards lifted, her facial expressions hidden beneath a mask of royal formality. Undeniably Valeri was a gorgeous woman, hard to read and hard to get behind her carefully build up walls. Evangeline wanted to peek behind them, take a look behind the curtain, she wanted to get to know the real Valeri. She doubted that she ever would.

Pursuit of Power

@Aamaya Who do we have on board still? Is our co-GM Silence still with us?

Pursuit of Power

@Aamaya Well this is disappointing. Was nice while it lasted. What a bummer. This was one of my favorites to RP

Pursuit of Power

I'm busy lately. I'm having slight trouble finding time. But it surely will slow down again soon.

Roleplay about being trapped inside a roleplay: Adventures from the Place Holder

Okay so, I was intending to join this, but sadly it doesn't seem like I have enough time. I haven't even been able to read the IC posts yet.

But since I've already worked on my CS for this and came to kind of really like it, I wanted to share it anyway. I hope that is alright with you all? Read it if you want to, otherwise feel free to ignore.

I wish you a lot of fun with this roleplay and may it last a long time.

Tristan Cambridge (WIP)

25 years • Male • Pansexual

Personality
Tristan first and foremost goal in life is to be a role-model to his daughter Kiana, who he is raising alone ever since her mother left when she was just a month old. [WIP]


How He Came To Join The Game
His best friend Ellia nudged him to get back into his hobby, noticing that he needed to do something for him that had nothing to do with his daughter Kiana. After he finally gave in, he stumbled across an ad for the RP and decided that it would probably do no harm to jump in on this.

Character: Reylah

9 years • Female

History
Reylah is an orphan. She doesn't know anything about her father. And the only thing she knows about her mother is that the woman was really sick, she birthed Reylah and struggled with her life for six months, trying to survive for her daughter and taking care of her, before finally passing away.

The last few days of her life the mother had spent lying in the bed of an orphanage in crucial pain. The orphanage had taken her in after her pleading, feeling sorry for the woman and her six-month-old baby. During her last four days on earth, the mother begged, made them promise several times, to care for her daughter when she would die.

And so Reylah found herself being raised in an orphanage. The circumstances were much less than ideal. The orphanage had barely-to-none money, making the life hard, sometimes barely having enough food for all kids, with raggedy clothing and only a few toys, which the kids would have to fight over.

Having been born to a deathly sick mother, Reylah never had a chance against the other children. She had no physical strength, sometimes could barely hold herself on her own feet, she fell sick often and the kids would make fun of her for her weakness. She would get beaten up several times, with no strength to even block a fist thrown at her, she could not even think of hitting back. Reylah was a victim and an outcast. No one wanted anything to do with the sick kid.

The girl attempted to run away three times. The first time she got caught in the kitchen, as she was trying to steal some food for survival on her journey, at the age of six. The second time she got caught on the stairs, having fainted from the heavy burden of a winter coat on her shoulders which she had stolen from one of the housemothers, at the age of eight. The third time Reylah did not try to take anything with her, she escaped during night, fled onto the streets and soon into the safety of the forests as to not be seen. Naively she thought she could handle herself just fine. The girl got deeper and deeper into the forest and stumbled across a crack in the world, leading to the underground. A very tiny crack no one had noticed. Out of that crack slipped a small demon. A creature similar to black fog, but they could not survive in such form, they needed a host to keep them alive on this side of the world. The sick, weak little girl was no match to the demon and so it attached itself to her soul to darken it.

Reylah found herself to wake up in the forest the next morning, feeling strong on her feet, no dizziness, no weakness. The newly gained energy formed into anger and hatred within minutes. All of the people that had done her wrong should suffer! She would pay them back for what they've done.

And so the nine-year-old went back to her orphanage with rage and with a her bare hands burned the whole place down to ashes, leaving every single one screaming and dying in the fire. As she walked out of the burning place with a blank face a crow came to sit on her shoulder. The demon's touch to her soul had been sealed.

Personality
Rey does not have control over her powers or the demonic touch to her soul, nor is she aware of the demon's presence. In her natural state Rey seems to be almost normal. She enjoys playing with people, drawing, beautiful plants such as flowers, pretending to sword fight and playing with her crow pet.

Her demonic features have a certain impact on her even in her natural state. She does not get scared easily, where most children would probably be afraid, she would simply keep a straight face. Rey doesn't like children and will not play with them, as she finds them to be childish and idiotic, she prefers adults. This may also come from being bullied and beat down by children all her life, only having found a little safety and rest around adults.

Rey has an easy tempter. She does not like getting no attention or even being ignored. This can cause her to erupt and burn something within her anger's reach. She can have a little bit of an arrogant attitude. Sometimes a numbness to cruelness in the world such as pain or death of people can be noticed in her.

Abilities

• Pet Crow: Reylah owns a pet crow, which listens to commands from her made by sounds or certain movements.

• Pyrokinesis: The psychic ability allowing a person to create and control fire with the mind. She is not able to control this.

Ideas Tossed Into This Mess

• The Underworld: A dark place where demonic creatures have their home, being trapped in that deadly place for eternity. It is a maze-like world, one of it's places being the stone city that's mostly ruins standing in the middle of a lake of lava, that a demon itself had produced in it's rage.

Stone City

• Bodyless Demons: These demons like like a shapeless black fog, needing a host's soul to attach to in order to survive outside of the Underground, feeding off of the bad intentions their host has and growing stronger as it convinces them to execute morally wrong and often cruel actions. Depending on the size and power of the demon, it might provide (or forces) certain abilities upon their host.

Bodyless Demon

Pursuit of Power

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_{Interactions: @Jinxer • @Sol Grim • @Lord Zee • @Raylah}

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It felt so good to be near her again. Her heart was slowly picking up the pace. The beautiful fiery red hair - oh how she adored it! And that pale skin that was so familiar to her - now looking even paler, concerning her - looked so inviting, she desired to let her fingertips move over the soft skin on her cheeks tenderly.

The hand beneath hers moved and with a grip stopped the motions of Eve's fingers. Her heart jumped and then relaxed. She softly squeezed her friend's hand. How glad she was that the woman was awake and seeming to do alright.

“You’re not to blame at all, Eve”, the Levonian warrior spoke. Her words hit Evangeline harder than she would admit. Her heart sunk a little as guilt poured over her once more, the heavy crown of responsibility invisibly resting on her head, reminder of just how much she was to blame. From a friendship point of view Laurel was right, she was not to blame. From a royalty point of view on the other hand she would have had to forbid Laurel from leaving her side during the festival. If she had just insisted on her personal guard, Laurel would have never gotten injured from such unnecessary cruelty. She felt responsible for her. Overwhelmed by those thoughts she couldn't bring herself to more than a shake of head.

“I gave my name out without thinking and this is the consequence of that. At least I can still carry out my duties. None of this is your fault, we both have things expected of us here”, she continued. Evangeline knew Laurel was trying to make her feel better, but she found it hard to accept that she had nothing to do with her friend's decision. Not only had she been irresponsible and naive enough to let her personal guard leave her side for such a long time, but the tournament had been rigged from the very beginning. The need to inform her friend about her discovery arose, but she had to postpone that to a time of day when they would have more privacy. Who was to say that Luthra warrior wouldn't wake up and eavesdrop on them?

Just as she had these thoughts another man entered through the door, interrupting their conversation. Tall and with an authority that filled the whole room. Undoubtedly the Father of Luthra, Evangeline recognized. She adjusted her posture to a more royal one, straight back, chin held high slightly. She did not want him to suspect anything other than a princess checking on her wounded guard, feeling that she had to protect Laurel from him, she moved away from her friend a few inches, turning her body towards him and pretending to be interested in his sudden appearance.

Evangeline spotted a hesitation in his movements, it was not more than a split second, but her gaze caught it and she made a note of it. He had not expected company. Something about his presence made Eve feel unsettled. While she did not let it show, she was alarmed and ready to pull out her throwing knives from under her gown should she have to. Her mind had already calculated all the ways in which she could use her environment to her advantage. Parcours was one of her strengths and so was using her environment in a sudden fight.

She kept her eyes on him as he hovered over his warrior. There was no worry in his eyes and surely no pride. If anything, it was cold despise. Without a doubt he had come to punish the warrior for his behavior in the tournament, for going against his own men, for saving the Earthica woman on the battlefield. Strangely enough Evangeline didn't care. And frankly she had expected him to show some faked respect towards her and greet her with a swift few words, but he had simply ignored each one's presence in the room, the first words coming from his mouth being meant for the injured man beneath his gaze. "What a pity."

To Evangeline's shock Laurel turned out to be the one to intend conversation. She sat up, causing Eve to instinctively reach her hand to her back in support - and quickly withdrawing it as she realized what she was doing. Evangeline's eyes wandered over her friend's face for a short second and she saw the need in her expression to fulfill her duty, to protect her princess. So Eve was glad when she did not jump up on her feet, ready to throw herself in front of her, but she chose words instead.

To say the least, she was very surprised - and even more so alarmed! - by the intention of those words. Her conclusion seemed to be of similar nature as Evangeline's, but other than Evangeline Laurel did seem to care. “You should be grateful to him, you know.” She was obviously at a loss of energy, still unable to sound as fierce and demanding as she was usually able to, still looking so unhealthily pale. ”Your other warriors apparently forgot the rule about not aiming for the head. Luckily he stopped them before they could break the rules and cause an incident.” She pointed to her own head wound. “Now it’s just the Exodus lot who’ve broken their own rules and you’re in the clear. To me it looks like judgement has already been rendered but not enough to demand uncomfortable questions.” Her great and rather foolish attempt to talk some sense into the Father alarmed Evangeline. Did she not know how dangerous her words could be? Did she not know that she could possibly do more harm than good? And why even did she feel the need to defend the man? Did she feel like she was in his debt? Did she think she owed him something? ”I’d like to thank him, once he wakes up, even if his attention was misguided.”

To her surprise Laurel then dared to ask her to fetch a servant for her. It was innocent and it was not a big deal between them, but it was something much else in front of a stranger, a politically strong enemy. Her father would have had her whipped for treating Evangeline like that. Of course not because he cared for his daughter's image, but because he cared for the image of the kingdom in general. And a personal guard speaking to her princess like that was not accaptable in front of Luthra's biggest scum, the Father. 'Or would you not, father? I hardly ever know your intentions, you so rarely speak to me.' Eve gave her friend a soft, but distant smile. "In a moment", she whispered.

Just then a scream came from the sleeping Thanatos man as he shot up to a sitting position in his bed. He took a second to notice Eve and Laurel at the bed beside him, but he quickly caught himself. His first words, beside his awakening scream, going directly to Laurel, no greeting to the princess. "You just had to see me again..." Disgust formed in Evangeline's stomach. 'Men are real scum', she thought to herself. A little fire began to dance in the pit of her stomach and not the good kind. She felt anger, yes possibly even hatred towards the man. Those seven words had ensured him of the princess' disliking of him, to say it kindly. Eve suppressed the need to grit her teeth as her jealousy rose together with the fire in her stomach.

He then attempted to approach the princess. But Evangeline had had enough of him already. "My lady, you should be proud of your fighters. I feel sorry for whomever stands across the battlefield from them. Who won, by the way? Eh, doesn't much matter, what's say the lot of us head back over to that fancy garden bar, eh? We could..." He stopped as his eyes met with the tall figure of the Father standing on the other side.

Eve's chin tilted upwards a tad bit more, as she looked at him sternly. She would not leave his comment go by unanswered. "I am not your lady. The proper approach is Princess Evangeline of Earthica. As for my warrior, she is the best and I never had a doubt in her. Your men fight unfairly, but I do not put any blame on them. You need to heavily outnumber a so much stronger opponent in a battle, I am aware." She did not mention them striking at her head, breaking a core rule of the tournament.

Eve could not be sure if he had heard her after spotting his leader in the room or if he was just choosing to be disrespectful, but the man would ask of her to thank the healer for him, calling her my lady once more. She shortly considered if he had been talking to Laurel instead of her, but that only made her anger worse. She would rather him being disrespectful to her than calling Laurel his lady.

The Father and the Luthra warrior then took some privacy to talk. Eve did not let it show on her face, but she hated these Luthra people. They did not seem to have any manners. 'And that coming from me means something.'

With no chance or even interest of overhearing their conversation, Eve used the chance to turn back to Laurel. "That was reckless of you", she scolded her, meaning her attempt to change the heart of the Father in order to save the Luthra warrior. "You have no reason to -"

But before she could say any more, the two men had finished their private conversation. Evangeline wished for nothing more than for both of them to disappear. She would insist on Laurel getting a private room, she should not be sharing it with anyone, let alone a Luthra attempting to be a womanizer. And the thought of the Father possibly returning to the room without Eve present unsettled her massively.

The Father shot a look towards Evangeline and said his first words directly towards her - "Princess." - and she responded just as cold and uninterested, "Father." He left. One down, one more to go until she could speak freely with Laurel and not as her princess.

Yet another scream pierced through the room and Evangeline shot around. The previously sleeping Thyrri had awaken in a state of fear, her mind clearly trying to grasp reality and let go of the nightmare she must have had. Her expression spoke of horror before she captured herself.

The Exodus healer confirmed Eve's thoughts lead by an apology, her voice trembling as she looked at Eve. “I’m sorry I disturbed you. Just had a bad dream.” If they had been alone Evangeline would have went over to comfort her. She wanted to let her know it was alright, tell her she'd be safe now. But she could not dare such a move with others present. 'But there we have the difference between men and women', she thought. 'Addressing the highest ranked person in the room first, even apologizing to me without having to. Very much unlike the men, who had all not seen me as worthy enough of their respect.'

Her mind traveled back to their first meeting, how quickly it had gotten intimate with the kind healer helping her into this terribly uncomfortable dress and even lending her the shoes she was wearing right now. 'Women are so much purer.'

Thyrri snapped out of her shaky state quickly, tending to the injured man and scolding him for getting out of bed. Evangeline didn't think he was worthy of her attention or skills. Her sudden mention of him moving to a new room made Evangeline appreciate her even more.

“And you,” she turned to Laurel, “I suppose you will want to stay near the princess? You should be fine provided you rest a lot and make no sudden movements, not even talking about running or jumping or similar endeavors. And of course, no alcohol.” The smile that formed on her lips enlightened Eve's heart and she had to smile as well. The princess lowered her gaze for a moment, fearing she would only blush if she looked at that smile of Thyrri for longer, the crazy situation they had shared replaying in her mind over and over again.

"Thank you", she finally spoke. "For taking such good care of my warrior. I would have not put her wellbeing into any other healer's hand." Eve turned to Laurel, her hand swiftly moving a red strand of hair out of her own face before looking at the other woman seriously. "And you", her voice was harsh, yet caring. "Don't you even think of going against the healer's words. That is an official order. Do you understand me?"

Pursuit of Power

Working on a post right now! :)

Pursuit of Power

@Raylah It happens, no worries. I made some alterations to the post.

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And sorry for the lack of quality in the post. I am a little sick with a major coming-and-going headache and less-than-usual concentration, but I really wanted to get a post in.

Pursuit of Power

Damn it. I guess I have to ditch my post now. @Raylah was faster than me. :/

Pursuit of Power

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_{Interactions: @Aamaya • @Jinxer}

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Only moments after her and Thyrri had reentered the garden, the beginning of the tournament was announced. The roar of a trumpet would be heard and the healer left Eve's side. Exodus guards lead the guests towards the arena and Eve thought they could have very well lead them all into a slaughterhouse, they all would follow neatly.

Upon recognizing her an Exodus guard offered her an escort towards the royal seats while shielding her from the walking masses, but she politely declined. Walking within the crowd of people had something appealing to it. It was something normal within this craziness.

As they got close enough for Eve to make out the royals on their privileged comfortable seats with the sun-cover, she noticed two things. Firstly, Thyrri was not sitting with them. And secondly, it would be the first time she'd see her parents since their arrival. Her heart sunk a little bit, unsure of how their reactions towards her would be.

"Princess?... Princess?" Eve turned her head towards the voice, it was the same guard that had offered her an escort earlier. He was eyeing her with something like concern.

"Hm?", Eve simply replied.

"I apologize the interruption. You have been staring up there for a while now, princess. The tournament is about to begin. Everyone is seated. Do you wish me to escort you to your seat, your highness?" A look around confirmed his words. Eve stood alone, the guests had all taken their seats on the rows of stone around the arena's middle where the tournament was about to take place. She had lost her focus on reality for a moment.

You are being too inattentive. It will cost you your life, if you don't get control over myself soon, idiotic fool! Just in that moment the voice of the Exodus princess rang through the air, she was giving a quick few words. Eve could see her standing above them all with the expression of a true future queen, she seemed so confident in her role.

If there had been a single doubt left within Evangeline, it surely was gone now. The beautiful woman from earlier, the first person to engage in a conversation with her during the festival, was princess Aamaya Freyja. She felt her stomach twist uncomfortably at the thought. But somehow a teeny tiny part of her was glad she had not known. She knew if she had known who the woman was beforehand, she would have not talked to her so carelessly, so freely. Eve would have encountered her with prejudices and faked kindness. The revelation about herself stung a little bit, but she knew that everyone was doing just the same, pretending, smiling and chatting while trying to wrap their partner of conversation around their sneaky little fingers.

As she watched Aamaya get seated again, a small smiled formed on her lips. Yes, she was glad she had not known her title. Now the woman felt intrigued about the bronze-skinned lady. She had gathered interest in her personality, in her thoughts and what she had to say. Of course, she still had to make up for her massive mistake somehow. Perhaps this tournament was an opportunity for her to talk to the princess, while they were all tied to their bums, unable to leave without being disrespectful towards their hosts.

Evangeline shot the guard a quick glance and declined his offer once more. She began to stride forward again, her feet getting entangled in the dress she was now wearing, almost causing her to trip. With a displeased expression on her face she lifted the gown up and away from her shoes and continued her way towards the royal seats.

Stepping into the guarded area for the high ranked people, she dropped the dress to flow around her feet again. To her great displeasure Eve had to notice that Princess Aamaya was already wrapped up in a conversation with the Princess of Primfira by now. An unsettled feeling came over her again, just the same she had when she first spotted the pale royal woman during her entrance to the garden. Once again she asked herself if it had to do with prejudices about her appearance or if her gut was giving her a well-intentioned warning.

For now there was no time to dwell over such things, and so Evangeline pushed those feelings to a little corner of her mind. The fight had just began.

Her attention quickly got drawn towards the arena's middle, her eyes rapidly searching the place until she had found the red hair in the crowd of warriors she was looking for. Worry crossed her face for a moment, but was soon replaced with pride. Laurel surely was the most skilled warrior in this pit. Maybe Eve was a little biased with that opinion, but there was no doubt that Laurel Mith was one of the bests, slaying opponents to her left and right. Within minutes Laurel had made three Primfira and one Exodus warrior drop to the floor defeated.

Noticing she was still standing in the back, Eve moved forward to take a seat next to her parents, or at least give them a quick reminder of her existence. But she stopped in her movements once more, standing right behind her father, when Laurel got attacked by a bunch of Luthra men. Not only were they cowardly overpowering her in number, but striking for her unprotected head as well! Her fingers twitched, ready to jump down into the arena and pull out her slim throwing knives, which were neatly hidden within her bra.

But she did not need to interfere. A Luthra warrior, who beat his own men down to the ground, came to her rescue. The princess stood in shock. Had her friend really just been saved by a Luthra warrior fighting against Luthra warriors?

She watched as they had a very brief conversation, wondering what they were talking about. Was she thanking him for saving her? Something within Evangeline did not like the situation at all. She did not like that Laurel had been saved by a man. Why did he save her? What did he want from her? Was that jealousy she was feeling?

"Do you see this Antonette? Our warrior... The female, allowing a Thanatos to stay in the battle?" The voice of her father surprised her for a second, until she remembered that she had originally wanted to take a seat beside her parents. Anger rose within her. 'The female', she scuffed in her head. You know her name all too well! But she would not say anything. Her father was clearly intoxicated with alcohol and making a scene about his comment would be of no use.

But he would not be silent on the matter. "Blasphemy! This is punishable my Queen... I will have Laurel knelt down and whipped for this.. Helping our sworn enemies.. Ha!" The King's words paired with the uncaring chuckle he let out made Evangeline's anger reach a peak. A trait, she noticed, she had probably inherited from her father.

"No you will not", the princess said sternly, but quietly, only for him and her mother to hear. "Laurel is proving to be an honorable combatant, better than anyone else on the field. She is providing great representation for our kingdom, not taking the easy blow on the man. What would they say about us? Striking the one with the helping hand in such an unhonorable manner? The other kingdoms would surely think of us as disgraceful."

The princess rarely spoke up against the king and it certainly felt strange and risky to do so, especially in a public environment with every single kingdom present. But she was impulsive, and protective of her friend. She would not sit in silence while her father would talk down the warrior like that. No, she couldn't.

The fight continued, Eve's eyes glued to only one person entirely. How graceful, how elegant, how strong and independent she looks, she thought to herself. How attractive it can be to watch someone fight so skillfully. Evangeline noticed with pride that her personal bodyguard, her dear friend, made everyone who dared to think they'd be a match for her come to her, not running towards them in anticipation, but waiting, calculating their movements, striking them down by the time they reached her.

As Eve allowed her eyes to draw away from Laurel for a moment to inspect the rest of the battlefield and gain an overall view, she quickly came to notice that Exodus warriors were falling to their knees in rapid numbers. Faster and in lager numbers than any of the other kingdoms.

Her mind began to count the standing warriors and the rising numbers of defeated men from each kingdom, calculating the differences in numbers and taking the warriors' styles and techniques into account. Coming to a realization, Eve leaned forward between the heads of her father and mother to whisper into the king's ear. "The tournament is rigged."

One could say many things about Evangeline, yes she was impulsive, childish, foolish, but she was also smart, if she only payed enough attention. And she had no other need than to get Laurel out of there as quickly as possible.

She searched the arena for her friend, finding her just as she got hit on the head, tumbling and trying to hold herself up on her feet. Evangeline rose from her bent position and her right hand formed to a tight fist of anger.

The Earthica warrior struggled for a while, but continued fighting, Eve was close to calling her off the field herself, using her authority to end this senseless battle for her friend. She felt guilty, she should have never allowed her to participate in the first place, should have insisted she needed her protection, kept her out of that nonsense.

Laurel called herself defeated and left the arena with healers by her side. Eve did not wait a heartbeat, she pulled her dress up and hurried out of the royal's area, she grabbed a servant by their collar, causing their tray with alcoholic beverages to smash to the ground, looking them sternly into the eyes she insisted on them showing her the way to the healers immediately. The poor young boy, still plagued from puberty's pimples and shaking in his skin, gladly showed her the way and was more than happy when she left him standing at the entrance door to the infirmary.

Upon requesting to immediately be informed about the whereabouts of the ginger Lovanian warrior, she got told that her friend was in good care with a healer and that Eve would have to be a bit patient.

"What does that mean, good care?!", she spat out between gritted teeth, not even trying to hide her anger about the situation. In all calmness one of the healer's assistants informed her that Thyrri was the healer under whose care Laurel was currently and that the healer would need calm and quiet to take care of the injured warrior. Upon hearing that Thyrri was the one Laurel's wellbeing depended on Eve relayed slightly. She trusted the woman to do her very best.

The next few eternities, which it surely must have been, were considered one of the hardest times in Evangeline's books. Sitting and waiting, not knowing, controlling her tempter as to not march in without permission, worrying and fantasizing about all the things that could be wrong with Laurel. Guilt kept her company.

At some point, she couldn't tell how much time had passed, Eve could not stand it anymore. The healers were busy, not caring for her presence anymore as she had not interfered with them or caused trouble. She used their trust in her by getting up and sneaking into the room, which she knew Laurel was being cared for in, just to hear her name being said. " - let princess Evangeline know where you are.”

She put a finger to her lips, showing Laurel to be quiet about her presence should she have spotted her. Eve was just about to call out for Thyrri to make herself known, but the healer sunk into a slumber as quickly as her eyes closed. A soft chuckle left Eve's lips, it was cute somehow.

She walked over to Laurel, examining her expression, looking for any indication of suffering. She spotted a stitched wound at her head. Eve's fingers moved over the bed until she reached Laurel's hand, letting her fingers dance over the skin on the back of her hands softly, caringly.

"Hey...", she whispered, scared to wake Thyrri. "Are you okay?" Her eyes met with Laurel's, her expression showing guilt, fear and deep concern. Seeing Laurel like that, weak and hurt, pained her incredibly. "I did not want this to happen... I should have said something, done something, stopped you -", she sighed. "I am sorry."