[IC] Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

[Raz_Fox]

Rita!

“It’s nothing,” you say, trying not to look at that horribly sad, guilt-inducing face. “Really!” She’s beaming powerful Guilt Rays into your head with her telepathic powers! Alina, how could you be so cruel?? You writhe under her fiendish assault.

“Okay,” you say, flopping into her lap, still Girl. “I just don’t like it when you get down on yourself, because... look, you saved Askaia. You went into that evil swamp and made it clean. And don’t you dare say it wouldn’t have been in danger if it wasn’t for you!”

You look up at her, heart hurting. “You want to know what I think? If you hadn’t dumped water on Oberon’s head, he would have gone and taken over some other kingdom. You just gave him an excuse. And... you’re not bad! You’re not! Because if you’re bad...”

Your voice cracks a little.

“...what does that make me? Too helpless to save her kingdom? Too stupid to help you find the Heart and save Jessamine? Too afraid to save you from the Riders when you needed it?”

stop it. stop it! you’re not allowed to cry!! not in front of Alina!! you’re a terrible kitten. you turn into a cat and run away as fast as your little legs can carry you, like a coward, not wanting to make the prettiest, best princess in Hyperborea feel any worse because of you, the most useless princess in all of Hyperborea.

Couldn’t even save your friend. Couldn’t even help cheer her up. Couldn’t even hide your stupid feelings, except for the ones you’ve felt since you hit puberty, because you’re so good at hiding those!! You’re pathetic!!

[Thanqol]

Her body had been telling her for a while now that it had enough. It had tried pain, stiffness, and weakness and none of these had served to deter that burning heart from dragging it all about everywhere, to and fro over every rock and peril. So, finally, it just checked out altogether - when Adila sat down by the fire she slumped against Kazelia, body shutting down and starting to sleep even though her mind was awake. But still thoughts buzzed through her head, sparks and crackle, imaginary bursts of light her eyes struggled to trace.

"Kazelia?" she murmured after a long moment. "Where's Princess Dandy?"

[PhoeKun]

What... did she say? What did she do? Get up. Get up, you idiot! She's going to get away, you're going to lose her too, get. Up!

But she's slow. She's slow and she's tired and she's clumsy, and no part of her was expecting this. Alina struggles to get to her feet and almost falls on her face for her troubles. Her muscles scream at her. Her rope burns are agony, now that she's let down her guard and let them feel like anything. Still, she gains her feet. And she runs, as fast as her legs will carry her. Please, please let that be fast enough.

"Rita! Rita!!" she's shouting at the top of her lungs through the rain and dark. The night swallows her voice as she goes, "Rita! Rita please! Answer me!"

Clever cat eyes soak in all the light in the sky, even on a black and cloudy night like this. Clever cat paws find all the best places to step, even in the rough and lumpy grass and the desperately tricky brush that follows after that. But Alina may as well have been swallowed by the void. There are no lights to guide her. For her, the night is darker than it's ever been. She runs in heels that catch and pull on every obstacle. And they do find every place to trip her up, blind as she is, crying into the storm while she waits frantically for a flash of lightning to navigate by. Rita! Rita! Where did you go?

Stupid. So stupid of her to lash out like that! How hasn't she seen it? She'd only meant to hurt herself! Her heart had been ice and pain and full of a darkness that wanted to pour out over everything. And it had. It had. All over... all over her. Over Rita. Stupid. So, so stupid! Of course she'd hurt her too! Did Alina really think she owned her own heart? Stupid!

Her legs are fire. Her face is ice. Her eyes are glass, and her lungs smoke. Alina pulls up short and holds her hands to her side where the sting has crept in under her ribs and stuck her like it means to poison everything she has left. She heaves, desperate for her air again. She squints, desperate for any sign at all. She turns her head this way and that way, and strains her ears for anything to give her hope. But there's nothing. It's dark, and still she has no lights to help her see. The storm is loud, and Rita's soft tread was hard to pick up even in an empty hallway, whether she was cat or girl. She was special like that. And she was gone. Alina sobs into the wind.

"Rita, I'm sorry! I never should have said it! Come back. Please, come back! You're not helpless! You're not weak or stupid! I... I need you! You're the one, don't you get it? You're the reason I can do anything at all! You're the one I..." she chokes, and slumps to her knees. She's saying it to no one. To the grass and the wind and the rain. She's crying now; the rest is barely more than whispered, "The one I do it for. You're special. You're so, so special. All these years, you looked up to me. And I was... I was only strong because I, because...

Because I had you."

Alina kneels there in the dark, praying with all the rest of her energy for an answer. The rain whips her in response.

[Raz_Fox]

Alina!

The rain peters out. Far off, there is cricket-song. This is the part where, back at Summerveil, Rita would bashfully slink out and curl up with you by way of apology.

You are alone. She’s not coming back. She would have stayed with you even if Oberon had threatened her, you know. But she was defenseless against you.

***

Rita!

Here we find you, out in the depths of the woods, curled up as a girl and sobbing your eyes out.

Alina is going to hate you now. You told her the truth! Now she’s going to realize you’re only getting in her way. That she should go off with a big, pretty, useful princess and get married and never think about you again. Why would she? You’re a useless princess from a useless kingdom that she doesn’t care about. You should dig a hole and collapse it on top of yourself.

You are so deep in your misery that you almost don’t notice the Riders in time. But your ears perk up, and you clamp your hands over your mouth, and you watch as dark pegasi descend from the sky. Within moments, with military precision, the Riders are setting up tents and securing the perimeter.

And a familiar figure in frilly black and white is being forced to help at spearpoint.

You sob silently, helplessly, until you’re all cried out. And you lie there for a while, in the bushes, watching them force Jessamine to serve them dinner.

And underneath everything— underneath the despair, and the fear that Alina has outgrown you, and the feelings that you should just lie down and never get back up— there’s a hot, angry little courage thinking as hard as ever.

And you’ve faked being a Rider once before, after all. How hard could it be?

[Anarion]

Her body had been telling her for a while now that it had enough. It had tried pain, stiffness, and weakness and none of these had served to deter that burning heart from dragging it all about everywhere, to and fro over every rock and peril. So, finally, it just checked out altogether - when Adila sat down by the fire she slumped against Kazelia, body shutting down and starting to sleep even though her mind was awake. But still thoughts buzzed through her head, sparks and crackle, imaginary bursts of light her eyes struggled to trace.

"Kazelia?" she murmured after a long moment. "Where's Princess Dandy?"

That rooted Kazelia in place. She had been finishing up the hair drying, letting Adila drift to sleep leaning against her good shoulder, and she suddenly went entirely stiff. "Adila she's..." Oh void, where to even start? Kidnapped? In the clutches of the Riders? In the clutches of Eska...who is a dragon? Who is Adila, or the dragon piece of her at least?

Oh no, oh void, say something Kazelia, she's going to think Dandy is dead if you pause this long. "...She was kidnapped by Eska who stole your dragon powers and blew up our coach before you got to town and now I don't know where she is and I thought maybe it would be okay while we were all recovering because we can't solve everybody's problems all at once but now I feel terrible for not telling you earlier but we also can't go running off until Alina and Rita get back and Oberon is here somewhere also Eska almost blew up one of the Hecatians and she broke my spear!"

...yep, that'll do it Kazelia. Totally stuck the landing, Adila will know what to do now.

[Thanqol]

"It's okay, Kazelia," said Adila, starting to raise a hand - hesitating - and then finding the warmth and confidence to put it against her friend's face. "It's okay. You're right. None of us can do anything on our own. We've all messed up and lost things today... we're all weak. We can't even stand up without each other..."

Even her heart was tired. It couldn't summon the strength to beat with fear or panic. It had been through so many emotions so close together it couldn't handle another one... was that right? Was it that she was too tired and drained to feel anything? That didn't seem right... as exhausted as she was, her light wasn't any dimmer. It was steady. She felt the warmth of the fire soak into her and then out into Kazelia and she felt... full. Contented. Even though the storm was still pouring outside, even though the world still howled outside, even though it was still scary... She wasn't worried because she knew that if she had to she had the strength to go out into that rain again if she had her friends with her.

"... but even though we can't stand up alone, together we can dance," she murmured as her eyelids started to lose their long war to stay open.

[PhoeKun]

Alina waits. Until the last little drizzles of the storm finish falling, and the song of crickets in the dark is all she has left for company, she waits. Once or twice, she jerks her head as if she'd heard the grass parting or a twig snap, but there's nothing. Nothing. She waits, and there's nothing.

She's alone.

The bit that really stings is that she can't even get herself to cry at this point. She's done it so much over the past day or so, and now there's nothing left when she really wants it. She's just... stuck with these feelings, bubbling up through the cracks in her soul and sitting there like an impossibly uncomfortable fizz. Rita isn't coming back. Her beautiful kitten who always saw the fun in even the really icky, scary things in life, and never once, not ever, had a bad thing to say about her. So short that even Alina felt tall standing beside her. Never learned to swim, despite a dozen different lessons from the best instructor of all time. Impossible to move from a nap when the sunlight hit that perfect spot, and always so handsy even when Alina said she wanted personal space. Her partner in crime, her assistant in adventure. Her Rita. Gone.

Haha, of course. She was in Askaia when she learned the true shape of her heart: who better than their princess to finally show her what the missing piece looked like? And she still can't cry! It's starting to spin up all the way into anger, and when that burns out too all she's got left is exhaustion.

The journey back is twice as long and three times as hard as her desperate flight into... wherever she is right now. Don't ask her about Felorian ecology. If that's even a word. She used up all her spare energy to find her best friend and say what her heart needed her to say. Now that she'd failed, her reserves were named soreness and a vague sense of not wanting to let down her other friends in the same night. But without even the flashes of lightning to guide her, it takes what feels like forever to stumble across the farmhouse again. She has to check around the whole place twice just to convince herself she hasn't found the wrong place.

Adila and Kazelia are already asleep. Alina doesn't wake them. But she does smile a little in spite of everything, and when the warmth of the room and the company in it washes over her exhausted body she just about melts into a chair and falls asleep in seconds. Maybe in the morning light, things wouldn't seem so bad. Maybe... maybe if she tried hard enough, she could still fix this. She couldn't afford to hate herself again. Not right now.

That meant hating Rita, too. And Alina could never, ever do that.

[Raz_Fox]

Princesses!

Your council of war is small and periodically interrupted by Bessie the milk cow, who wants nothing more than to lie down and lay her head in Adila’s lap. Dandy should be here, offering you advice on her kingdom; Rita should be here, wagging her tail. Instead, it’s just you three: one injured, one lightless, one newly human.

Alina!

As the double agent, it is your responsibility here to decide how much you will share with your friends about Oberon and his plans.

Kazelia!

As the strategist, as the cunning Rider, you have the responsibility of committing to a course of action. All eyes turn to you in this, the lowest point of your adventures together.

Once you have decided what you will pursue, you may ask how you can stop it.

Adila!

Oh no Bessie’s on your lap again.

Go ahead and tell us how the Watch would handle a situation like this, and then follow up by sharing your Plan To Get My Skin Back.

[Anarion]

"As I see it" Kazelia began, using some straw on top of...a bigger bale of straw to crudely mark the territory, "we have three problems, maybe four. Asteria and her Riders. A rampaging dragon that was here when Adila was still a dragon, and Eskagon, who stole Adila's powers somehow when she turned into a human. If Oberon is here, that's a fourth. I saw signs he might be, but he often doesn't stay long and he could be anywhere, so I don't think we should be looking for him right now."

Kazelia gets up, paces back and forth by the straw bale, rubs her bad shoulder. "I think what we should be trying to do here is make sure Feloria is safe and make an alliance with the Hecatian witches. They're a real power, I knew about them before I left, and Oberon wants to work with them too, so if they side with us it will be a real blow to him. They also might have the kind of magic that can help us find him, or at least find all our friends."

Kazelia gives Alina an apologetic look. "That does mean that we can't go looking for the Riders to rescue Jessamine or go looking for Rita right now. Eskagon was guarding the roads near Hecatia, that's how I got attacked originally. I'm not sure if she's still there, but I think we should try to stop her, save Dandy, and get Adila's dragon power back, whatever she may want to do with it, it's her choice, it doesn't belong to my sisters. That will let us get to Hecatia safely, maybe Dandy can even help if we can't find Diana or any of the other witches to guide us there, and then we can work with them to stop the second dragon and the Riders. And...hopefully, the two will keep each other distracted and not cause too much harm in the meantime. I also think this is the best way to deal with Oberon's corruption of the land"

If everyone agrees with that, Kazelia is going to reflect to herself on how she can implement this plan. It perhaps has too many pieces to just ask "how can I stop it" but I think the one I'd focus on is how can I stop Oberon's plans for the Hecatians?

[Thanqol]

"No," said Princess Adila, trying to push away Bessie's head as she tried to make another run at eating Adila's tactical miniatures. It was hard. Bessie was both strong and determined, and her improvised miniatures were unfortunately delicious. "We're playing into the individual and not the scenario if we just go after Eska. We need to - stop it, you've already eaten three of these - play the princesses against each other."

She started arranging her berries around the map. "The blackberry is Eska, the blueberry is Asteria, the peach is Diana, the grape is the dragon, the dandelion flower is Princess Dandy and the rest should be obvious," it was not obvious - but she kept going with a bright eyed focus and enthusiasm that looked strange on her. "The berries all want to eat the peach but they can't. The blueberry," she deftly manoeuvred the relevant fruit away from Bessie's questing tongue and placed it onto the map, "wants to defeat the grape in order to get the peach to reveal itself. The blackberry tried to get the peach but failed and took the dandelion flower as consolation. None of the berries care about us," she put an acorn, dewberry and a pink rock candy in the centre, and then swatted Bessie away from making a lunge at them. "Stop that, you'll choke on that - but also, if I know anything about princesses, it's that the blackberry and the blueberry hate each other and aren't co-ordinating at all. Whoever gets the peach wins."

"If we all go for the dandelion flower then we're going to leave the blueberry to do whatever it wants," she illustrated by allowing Bessie to eat the grape. "And likewise if we go to rescue the black rock candy then the blackberry gets away with the dandelion flower and the peach. They're competing against each other so they won't even care if we beat their sister. But that's our advantage too! Because what if we go after neither of the berries - and instead go after the grape."

She grinned. This was Watch thinking, and she liked it a lot. "We don't have anything of our own. We're down our spear, our lights, and our dragon. But there's still an incredibly mad grape on the table that nobody controls. So we get the grape," she produced a new grape, evaded the cow, placed it in between the two berries. Then she pushed the nut-berry-candy up to it. "And then we draw it across to the blackberry..." she pushed all four across, "and while the blackberry and the grape are engaged with each other then we rescue the dandelion and, uh. Somehow steal the blackberry... skin..." she wasn't quite sure how to illustrate this and Bessie took advantage of the hesitation to eat the offending berry rendering the question moot. "And here's the good part. The blueberry will then come in to defeat the grape and find us not one but two grapes waiting for it! "

Manipulate two criminal elements into fighting each other, and then when they were weakened turn them both into an ambush against a third. That was a proper Watch strategy.

She smiled like she hadn't smiled in a long time. "We can do this."

[We'll Make It: Spending a Bond with Alina to heal the damage to her Courage.]

[Raz_Fox]

Kazelia!

Stopping Oberon from subverting the witches of Hecatia to his cause is indeed a noble goal. That’s the sort of long-term thinking everyone expects from you! It seems he wants their service for some reason, and while he wants Diana specifically, he might settle for another witch if you kept her away from him. Maybe. If he didn’t angrily decide to pursue some other method of achieving his goals.

The way to stop him permanently... reveal who he is. Who he really is. Offer them proof that he’s a terrible jerk who means only ruin.

To do that... you’d probably need to trick him into using his magic in front of them! One of your sisters wouldn’t work— too much plausible deniability. He’d throw one of you to the witches to placate them long enough to get his way. “I’m shocked, I’m appalled, I raised her better,” and so on. But if you can show them that his magic, his essence, is the same as the pollution in the ley lines, they’ll turn on him completely.

[Anarion]

Kazelia followed the berries with some interest, trying to avoid even the barest hint of a giggle as Adila struggled to swat away Bessie the cow, who was intent on eating all her props. When Adila was done, Kazelia looked thoughtful. "I think your plan is more dangerous, but if it works, it could be better. It doesn't leave any of our threats on their own for too long and could lead to completely saving Feloria all at once. But...it relies a LOT on us first being able to get to the other dragon ahead of everyone else and second that everyone acts the way that you expect they will instead of, say, deciding to all unite and focus on us, or deciding there's too much going on and leaving to do something else. How confident are you that everyone will behave according to plan?"

[PhoeKun]

Alina's got her own piece of straw which she is using to diligently ignore both of her friends' plans while she draws cats on the ground for some reason. Every now and then she glances up at the door as though she's expecting something, but nobody comes. There's nobody here but the three of them. Plus Bessie, of course. Good old reliable Bessie, the anchor of the team. Just like -- whoops no, we're not thinking like that today! We're not, we're not, we're not. We promised we wouldn't! She wipes away her latest doodle with her foot and starts on an absurdly cute rendition of Rita.

"...The grape, uh, I mean the dragon was acting the same as Jessamine," her voice is distant and airy, and she doesn't look up from her drawing, "Like its-- like her heart was carved empty and filled back up again with nothing but anger. You can see Oberon's hand in all of this."

She's quiet for a moment, focused on nothing but her dirt art. But she can't take the eyes on her, and when she looks up she gets a face full of grinning Adila. She smiles back despite herself. That's her. That's the girl she was trying to reach last night. She wonders what it would feel like to have that smile projected at her as a thought, instead. Or maybe her dragon face had a for-real grin like that she'd been hiding out of fear. She has to stifle a giggle as she thinks about it, and something inside her heart shifts. Maybe. Maybe she can...

"He was here. In Feloria. And he..." she shivers, and clears away her latest drawing. No. She can't do this, "It doesn't matter. He's gone now. L-let's get these dragons under control while we still can. And then, did you say you knew Diana? She's supposed to be a very talented witch; I need... her opinion on something."

Oh Ourania, help her. How is she supposed to go through with this? But how can she not?

[Thanqol]

Kazelia followed the berries with some interest, trying to avoid even the barest hint of a giggle as Adila struggled to swat away Bessie the cow, who was intent on eating all her props. When Adila was done, Kazelia looked thoughtful. "I think your plan is more dangerous, but if it works, it could be better. It doesn't leave any of our threats on their own for too long and could lead to completely saving Feloria all at once. But...it relies a LOT on us first being able to get to the other dragon ahead of everyone else and second that everyone acts the way that you expect they will instead of, say, deciding to all unite and focus on us, or deciding there's too much going on and leaving to do something else. How confident are you that everyone will behave according to plan?"

"We're outmatched, outnumbered, and unarmed," said Adila, serious stare undermined by the cow licking the side of her face. "If we make a plan we can be confident in we'll achieve exactly what three ordinary girls could achieve - not much. This plan is the opposite of that. We're not looking to be certain, we're looking to maximize uncertainty - maximize chaos. The more chaos there is the less strength matters - and the more opportunities there'll be for us to overcome our weakness. Maybe things go against us but even if we have to cut and run we'll at least have the opportunity to rescue our friends on the way out."

She leaned back a little, out of range of Bessie's tongue. Bessie immediately countered by putting her head on her lap again. "Still. I've done what can be done. I sent Brill ahead to lay groundwork and prepare backups, I'll tell you more about them on the way."

"...The grape, uh, I mean the dragon was acting the same as Jessamine," her voice is distant and airy, and she doesn't look up from her drawing, "Like its-- like her heart was carved empty and filled back up again with nothing but anger. You can see Oberon's hand in all of this."

She's quiet for a moment, focused on nothing but her dirt art. But she can't take the eyes on her, and when she looks up she gets a face full of grinning Adila. She smiles back despite herself. That's her. That's the girl she was trying to reach last night. She wonders what it would feel like to have that smile projected at her as a thought, instead. Or maybe her dragon face had a for-real grin like that she'd been hiding out of fear. She has to stifle a giggle as she thinks about it, and something inside her heart shifts. Maybe. Maybe she can...

"He was here. In Feloria. And he..." she shivers, and clears away her latest drawing. No. She can't do this, "It doesn't matter. He's gone now. L-let's get these dragons under control while we still can. And then, did you say you knew Diana? She's supposed to be a very talented witch; I need... her opinion on something."

Oh Ourania, help her. How is she supposed to go through with this? But how can she not?

Adila thought. Some part of her was irrationally confident that if she fought the other dragon as herself that she'd - well, it wasn't confident at all, but she wanted it. It was irrational. No small part of this plan was based around the inarticulate sensation, 'I will fight her, I will win, I will press her head into the dirt and fill her thoughts with my thoughts and she will obey me' and, uh. She rationalized it that Alina had talked to Jessamine and that had worked... but really this was just some sort of dragon emotion she didn't know how to properly process.

It was, however, why she was confident that if she pointed the golden dragon at Eska then they'd fight. It wouldn't make sense for them not to.

She fell out of her contemplation to focus on Alina; the drawings, the distance. She reached out and took her hand to try and steady the shakes in her voice. "Are you okay?" she asked.

[Anarion]

Kazelia has no comeback to that. She's hurt, without her weapon, doesn't know where Shiva is at the moment (she's probably in town, but Rita stabled her somewhere and they probably don't have time to go looking) and has used up most of her supplies and powers. Adila is not a dragon and doesn't seem to have any special powers. And Alina still has no lights...and she had...

That was when it caught up to her, what Alina had said. "You met him?" Kazelia's voice is soft but there's a sharp edge to it and her eyes, her strange star-filled eyes are distant. "You didn't tell us! You can't trust him Alina. You can't trust anything he says. He deceives everyone, lied to all of us, lied to me! Whatever he told you, whatever he did to you, don't trust any of it. If he, if he..." She doesn't want to mention the lights directly, she glances upward, to Alina's uncrowned forehead instead. "...If he hurt you, I'll pay him back a hundred times over for it! Did he..., are you...did he do something to you?" Kazelia is trembling, whether with rage or worry it's hard to say. Perhaps both all mixed together.

[PhoeKun]

Now that she's here, now that she can finally talk about it, Alina's tongue turns to lead. It all sounds so stupid, actually, when she rolls the words over in her head. What can she say? That he touched her with his hand (and it burned like death and felt like splinters in her brain and--)? That he dumped water on her head (until she couldn't breathe or feel or--)? Oh yes, how about she mentions the way he let the camp spank her all day (until she was bruised and bleeding and shaking so she--), that's really going to register on everybody's Sympathy Meters after they'd been hounded by dragons and set on fire and stabbed with death swords so that their bodies looked like they were slipping into the void beyond Ouroboros or else had their own skin and form ripped off them with magic and handed to someone else so they could do horrible things in their name?

She can't. She can't say any of it. It's petty and silly and stupid, just like-- no. Not like that. But it's still an insult to their pain to think hers compares. She doesn't say a word, or move except to squeeze Adila's hand in hers. But there are signs her silence can't hide. Her top is too low cut to hide her scar, so you can see the silver wound looks brighter, sharper, more intense and likely colder. Her hand trembles a bit even with someone else's to hold it, just from the memory. Her skirt is too short, now that there is light and fewer distractions, to hide the truly hideous rope burns that crisscross up and down her legs, and when you notice those they draw the eye to the cuts and discoloration of her thighs where the fabric's hiked up from how she's sitting. You can see the dried blood on the bottoms of her feet: the result of running, jumping, dancing, and chasing in those ill-fitting shoes they made her wear. And, of course, there's no crown on her head. Not that her lights were worth much more than a gloved hand at this point, but they were missing just the same.

"It... it doesn't matter," she repeats, "Like you said, we can't trust him."

Which is true enough. Except she has no choice. Please, she doesn't say, don't make this harder than it is.

[Thanqol]

"It does matter," said Princess Adila quietly, continuing to hold Alina's hand. "And you do matter."

The rest of the world fades into the background as though to prove it. She's not worried about the cow, or the berries, or the distant dragons. Right now her friend matters and she's just going to give her quiet, unjudging attention for as long as it takes that to soak in. Alina can talk if she wants to, or she can say what she needs to say through shivering fingers if she can't. There is nothing Adila would rather spend her time on right now than just holding her friend's hand and being there for her.

[Anarion]

Kazelia takes Alina's other hand. "It matters. It's everything." She looks like she might be quiet for a moment. There's a doubt playing across her face, to just sit with this moment, or to say more. There's something she herself felt, visions that have been gnawing at her, but even here, she's not quite sure how to say it.

After a few seconds, a deep breath, she does say something. "Do you think that being stabbed is worse than what my father did to you? No. This..." she looks at her shoulder, "it just hurts, it harms me, makes it a little harder to do things, but I am still me. Free and strong, whether I have a spear or magic, it doesn't matter. What Oberon does, it's something darker. I told Diana last night, when I found the leyline, that Oberon corrupts the world, fills it with his power until his cold and emptiness are the only thing left. But that's not just...not just a world. It's people. His daughters, his soldiers, every person whose heart he touches, he pulls out the things that make them, themselves and he fills them with cold and nothing."

Kazelia pulls out her music box with her free hand and opens it, as that sad, dolorous song plays. She has a thought that...maybe there's something, some way she can show them. She tries to close her eyes, hold Alina's hand in hers, tightly.

*****

You see a moment. An instant before your eyes. All of you holding hands see someone else in place of your friends. A group of women, holding hands in a circle, facing inwards. All tall, wearing loose dresses of dye-less white cloth that wrap over one shoulder while leaving the other bare. Their hair is long and pinned up above their heads, in many colors, and their eyes glow to match. There's a faint wind, above them the last leaves of dying trees stir, crackle, and fall. The circle forms a swirl of colors, all eyes staring intently at something in the center that gives off a warm radiance. That something is just beyond vision, just out of frame of the image. But in that instant, you can hear each of them holding a single note of the Dolorous Song, the sound of pure harmony. And behind them, outside of the circle, outside of the warmth and light, there is Oberon. He looks enraged, yet somehow smaller than you've ever seen him. Somehow, for just an instant, he looks sad.

******

And then it's gone, there's just a song playing and Kazelia and Alina and Adila holding hands. "I was so cold, I couldn't feel anything. And then I heard this old song and I knew that someone had refused him. I heard that he could be refused and I could try to feel again. So don't...don't say it doesn't matter."

[PhoeKun]

Alina doesn't say a word to either of them, at first. She doesn't so much as glance up when she hears the music, or change the expression on her face when she sees that spark of memory, or whatever it was hidden inside of the notes. It is a beautiful song, but this lamentation is not the thing that reaches her heart. So she sits there in silence, holding both of her friends' hands and squeezing them to the point of pain with her trembling fingers.

It takes some time before anything happens. The magic of the farmhouse is simply three girls holding hands, plus a cow freshly contented on every berry within reach. But then, finally it happens. Alina's grip softens. Her fingers stop shaking. And she starts to cry. Of course she does, Alina always cries; there are certain skin-stealing jerks out and about in this very kingdom who've got a name for her for precisely that reason! And truthfully, she has been crying rather a lot lately. But this time it's not because of pain or fear, not because of panic and the overwhelming awfulness of another thing for her to carry on her as being her fault: this time she wears a soft smile on her face as well. This time, it's because she found two people strong and beautiful enough to tell her that, yes, she mattered. That it was important.

In the end, those are the words that made all the difference. For Alina, for Feloria, and possibly for Hyperborea itself.

She heaves a great, shivering sigh and squeezes her friends' hands one more time.

"...Thank you."

[Anarion]

The world stays still for a little bit longer. It gives Alina time to cry. Time for friends to hold hands and share a moment. So the world holds its breath, the clouds rest in their journey across the sky, even Bessie finishes her grape and lets her tail fall behind her without the slightest lazy swat. Then, the tears are done, and as Alina speaks, the clouds start moving again, the air shifts, and Kazelia gently closes her music box and puts it away with all the reverence that she feels.

"I say we go with Adila's plan, sort of. She's right, we're not strong enough to guarantee anything as we are now, so it's better to hope that we can capitalize on chaos. I think this all hinges on our ability to move flexibly and reach the mad dragon quickly. I think...if I could get on top of her, I could use my last wizard's tools to forge some kind of lure, if we can't snap her out of her madness somehow. Asteria will focus on her mission, so if we can direct that dragon, we can direct Asteria too and lead a chase until we can make them collide with Eska the way we want. After that, we'll just need to hope that we can find all our friends and save them. I still think it's not important that we actually defeat all these threats now, but instead that we reach Hecatia and ally with them, and ensure that father does not. I...have an idea for how to do that, but you will all hate it. I think I should challenge him to a duel in front of the witches."

[Raz_Fox]

Kazelia!

This is a terrible plan.

Here you are, furiously working your trinkets into a dragon lure. To the uninitiated, it would look a lot like a kite. And, in fact, it is a kite! It’s just a kite that will keep the dragon’s attention, no matter what.

Which is good, because she is five minutes away from the Felorian capitol and if you don’t manage to get her attention, and fast, she’s going to burn that beautiful city of flowers and windmills and cow pastures to the ground. And then Asteria will swoop in, save the Queen, and crow about defeating the dragon.

But you got this, right?

***

Alina!

This is a terrible plan.

You’re in charge of making sure Asteria doesn’t catch Kazelia while she’s using her dragon kite. It looks like you’ve only got her scouts to deal with; something keeping her busy elsewhere? But still, those Riders will notice Kazelia if you don’t act as a pretty little distraction.

And letting her get caught wouldn’t do a thing for your secret mission! Other than, well, letting Asteria win and having some concrete proof that the Riders might not be that bad. But that’s way too high a price to pay for a slim benefit! So improvise. You’ve got no grappling hook, no lasers, and no ribbon, but you’re still a princess, darn it!

***

Adila!

This is a terrible plan.

Locate Eska Glinteye. Sure, sounds easy enough on paper, but all you’ve got is the knowledge she’s got your skin, and has something to do with a magically hidden school for witches. This is the sort of scenario where, ideally, you rely on underworld contacts and around-the-clock observation of known boltholes. You have no time, no contacts, and no clue.

Well, I say no clue. You could try finding a witch and asking for help, or you could try doing some meditation in the hope of having some mystic connection to your skin. What are your own thoughts on the matter?

[Thanqol]

Adila!

This is a terrible plan.

Locate Eska Glinteye. Sure, sounds easy enough on paper, but all you’ve got is the knowledge she’s got your skin, and has something to do with a magically hidden school for witches. This is the sort of scenario where, ideally, you rely on underworld contacts and around-the-clock observation of known boltholes. You have no time, no contacts, and no clue.

Well, I say no clue. You could try finding a witch and asking for help, or you could try doing some meditation in the hope of having some mystic connection to your skin. What are your own thoughts on the matter?

Princess Adila is not very good at magic. She knows a little, of course - any self respecting princess knows at least a little, and when one lives in the Bazaar one winds up buying all sorts of things one does not need. She always intended to take the time to practice at some point but never quite managed to find the moments. Her days would organize themselves so that there just weren't those sort of gaps to fill with quiet study, and there were always more chances to buy than to appreciate what she had bought. If she ever needed something serious done it was always easier to ask one of the Watch's magicians than do it herself.

She... now's not the time to try. It'd be messy and she doesn't trust herself not to mess something like that up. There isn't time enough for... and besides! She can't sit around being introspective when Princess Dandy is in danger! She needs to deal with this like a professional and get professional help.

And that's the angle she takes when she seeks out that help. What's much more important than anything else is that Princess Eska is holding Princess Dandy prisoner. And while explaining the complicated nature of dragonfire and bodyshifting is an unsure bet, any Felorian witch worth her tomatoes would know how to find her princess if she was in trouble. Plus she has Dandy's shawl on hand as an arcane connection - providing someone will lend her a proper skirt. Ideally also some boots. Maybe a magic ribbon of dragon binding while she's hoping.

[PhoeKun]

...Why were her sleeves so full of knives? That's what Alina really wanted to know. Who needed this many throwing knives? Who needed any throwing knives at all? Circus performers, she supposes, and if she sees any more she'll be sure to give these away as a gift, but in the meantime and for everyone else, just... why? What weird game was Asteria playing when she chose this outfit? And while she's here fretting, is she ever going to get to wear something properly pretty again?

It just... makes it harder to be a pretty distraction when you aren't pretty, ok? That's it. That's all she was thinking. Alina sighs and counts down the list of Nos again. No grappling hook, no healing, no lasers, no shields, no little lights of any kind really, no ribbon, no armor, no idea how to throw a knife, and no good to be had from attacking Riders in the first place when their boss had Jessamine hostage. So that was all out, really. She'd have to be the other kind of distraction. Lucky thing nobody's watching. She sighs miserably.

Game face on. She saunters out of her hiding place, looking as haughty and imperious as she dares, very definitely not trembling to be getting so close to a skilled hunting troupe unarmed when this same group already beat her when she had her lights and the best backup she could ask for (don't think about who was missing, Alina, that's only going to make it harder). No, she's in control here. Because she is a princess, darn it, and everyone here was on the same side.

She stalks right into their midst on her awful death-spike heels and puts her hands on her hips. No one has ever in the history of Hyperborea scoffed so perfectly as Alina is doing right now.

"What are you idiots doing here?! You're going to mess up the entire plan!"

[Anarion]

Of course Kazelia has this! Why would Kazelia not have this?! It's not like a large rampaging gold dragon breathing fire at anything that gets her attention is LITERALLY the stuff of Rider nightmares! Why would you even think otherwise? It is also not like Kazelia is unarmed dismounted, and practically out of magic. No, those facts are the sort of facts that a critic would bring up because they unfairly want to criticize the plan.

Kazelia is in fact entirely prepared for this, she's using her ice magic to push and poke at the dragon while she gets her magical kite deployed, with the specific goal of being like a tiny Rider mosquito that is just too annoying to be ignored, even going so far as to throw her voice right in front of the dragon's ears and call her a lizard, which everyone knows is the most egregious insult possible for a dragon. Kazelia is then completely, absolutely, one hundred percent prepared to implement the oldest and most effective plan ever in combat: RUN AWAY!

[Raz_Fox]

Adila!

Complication!

There’s more villages than witches, even in Feloria. Some villages (like the one you met the circus in) don’t have witches at all! They’re usually part of a circuit, with a hut on the village outskirts for the traveling witches. But that means, to find a witch on short notice and not waste time on a potentially-fruitless search, you end up backtracking. It’s a hike and a half, make no mistake, but you know who’s going to be waiting for you at the end of it, when you show up all wobbly-legged and sweaty and feeling ready to fall over.

Madeline, Witch-in-Training of Bounty.

“It’s a Seeking, right?” It’s actually kind of nice being able to fit in a space as cozy as her tent. (There are a lot of tents set up around Bounty. Thank goodness it’s not winter and no one’s at risk of freezing while they rebuild.) You don’t have boots yet, but she’s put the word out. You’ll have a third-hand pair by the time you’re ready to head out.

“We just need to resonate a crystal with the key of her heart. Lucky for us, you’ve got that shawl!” She brandishes a pair of copper scissors and carefully unravels part of the hem, before snipping it off. Bad for the shawl, but good for magic. She then hunts through a folding chest for the proper sort of crystal: a garnet as red as blood and as lovely as autumn.

“You know her better than I do, I think,” she says, wrapping the thread criss-cross about the garnet, before tying it off and letting it dangle. (Alina might even find the dangling suggestive. How lucky she’s not here.) “So hold onto this and think about her as hard as you can, while I put the tea on, okay?”

She’s so young. There are bags under her eyes; she hasn’t been sleeping nearly enough since Bounty burned. So she falls back on what she can believe in: magic, the power of wishing hearts, and tea.

***

Alina!

Complication!

“Aren’t you supposed to be going and getting a witch?” The Rider who asks the question is actually wearing knives in her hair. Maybe you should try that! It’d be as good a use as any for all the knives up your sleeve. “Hey, Megane, do you see any witches around here?”

“I don’t,” Megane purrs. She has glass sewn into her cloak. Don’t think about where that glass came from. “Maybe she’s hiding the witch underneath her?”

Oh no.

No no no back away oh no

Well, the good news is that you have successfully gained their attention and they have no clue that Kazelia’s about! The bad news is that you have successfully gained their attention and they would like nothing better than to pick you up, give you noogies, pinch you, hold you upside down and make snide comments about your underwear, and other such delightful pastimes.

***

Kazelia!

Complication!

You deploy the kite. It’s magnificent. Like a siren song, irresistible to dragons, woven in layers of charms. And it’s so unfortunate that the dragon immediately— immediately— shoots forth her long neck and snaps her jaws around it.

Oh no.

So here’s the thing.

You can still do this.

Lure the dragon to Eska.

You can do it!

Only, it’s going to be so much more scary. You don’t have a dragon kite to keep her attention. All of her attention is going to be on you, and you’re going to have to lead your worst nightmare on a merry chase while also being on fire. Because, let’s be honest. If you attract her attention? You’re not going to be able to evade all those gouts of fire.

It is going to hurt so, so much.

This is a choice. It might not seem like one, but it is. Nobody has to know you had this choice! You could just say that she ate the kite and then the capitol attracted her attention again. You could run away and let her burn the city down, because the price of being the bait is so terrifyingly high.

You can be a coward or you can burn.

[Thanqol]

"Can I keep her?" said the little princess. Her watering eyes, hopeful smile, and four-stage boss battle of a 'please' would have been enough to turn any heart that had not been forced to practice against it every day and night since she'd learned the word. "I'll take her for walks every day, I promise! - no, Adila, you've got to make your eyes wider, like this. Can you tear up?"

+Tear up?+ thought the dragon hatchling curiously, straining to open her eyes as wide as she possibly could.

"Yeah! Do dragons cry, or what?" she said. "Tearing up always works on Red Mummy -" Princess Dandelion had, quite sensibly, sorted her mummies into Red Mummy and Purple Mummy and had previously waged a tearful campaign to make sure that they always wore their proper colours. "- but Purple Mummy is mean and is going to say no, so we need to make sure that we have as many tears as possible."

+I've never cried,+ thought the hatchling confidently. +Dragons and Watchers don't cry!+

"No way! Then how do you get desserts!?" said Princess Dandelion in shock and horror.

+I catch cats!+ thought little Adila. +Like this!+ Her pounce was sudden enough to catch Princess Dandelion off guard and knock her to the floor. Adila gave a tiny roar and spread her wings, breathing out a puff of hot air. +Haha! You're going to crime jail and I'm going to the ice cream shop!+

"No fair," Princess Dandelion said, pouting and again abusing her power to make her eyes water on command. "I wasn't ready."

+Ambushes are very important,+ Adila thought smugly. +Fair fights are for losers and Rowani, Sergeant Gen says.+

"You're hurting me," pouted Princess Dandelion. Immediately Adila stepped back, +Oh, I'm sorry -+ expression clouding with worry

But it was A Ruse.

"I am going to tickle you," declared Dandelion, knocking the off-balance dragon over, pinning her and searching for the tickle spots. "Until you cry."

+Help! No!+ thought-squeaked the hatchling, struggling. It was no use. Princess Dandelion knew all about tickling - she knew how to tickle dogs, sheep, pigs, cows, and even one time a snake. It only took a few moments to find the proper method to torment a dragon into shrieks and squirmings.

"Aha!" said Princess Dandelion triumphantly. "See? Tears. Liar."

+Stopppppp+ wheezed the hatchling.

"This is good. You're not going to get anywhere in life if you don't know how to cry right," said Princess Dandelion firmly. "Now: Sit! Straight! Open your eyes reeeeeeeally wide. Wider! Let's try again: Mommies, she followed me home, can I keep her pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaseeeeee??"

*

Set seven. Step and sway. Step and brush. Step and bow. Turn and orient. Let the sunlight flow through you, and to the earth where it fills the land itself with -

+I've got my eye on you, Princess,+ the thought disrupted her empty mind and she frowned. +If you try anything I'll know.+

"Then your knowledge is limited by your perceptions," she said quietly, resuming the steps of the form, trying not to focus on the sleek black dragon skirting around just ahead of her.

+Then you ought to be pret-tyyy worried because nothing gets past my perceptions,+ thought the dragon. +Like, say, the witches that you tried to smuggle through the Pyramid Gate?+

Princess Dandy would have liked to pretend that the young dragon didn't notice her waver and lose track of her steps. But to be honest with the self is to be honest with the world. She took a deep breath to steady herself.

+Happy sixteenth, by the way,+ thought the dragon. +I'm so glad you decided to follow the family coming of age tradition of trying to knock over the Bazaar to prove what a hot princess you are. It was a really considerate gift for my upcoming coming of age. Now, quit dancing and I'll be gentle when I tie you -"

Princess Dandy remembered the next step in the form. She took it. Snapped a sudden, smooth palm up to the dragon's throat, step and hook and sweep and balance and grace and followed the steps faster than she'd ever followed them and -

Princess Adila crashed into the ground. Dandy stared at her hands, stunned. "I'll, uh," quick, idiot, say something enlightened. "I'll tie you up."

She hesitated, hovered. She'd wrangled cattle and sheep plenty of times and been practicing martial arts for years but she'd never hit a person before -

And then before she could think right her legs were tangled and everywhere and then she was on her back and the golden-eyed dragon was there and daring her to make something out of it. And for a moment there was -

- the moment passed.

+Psh. Yeah,+ thought Adila, rubbing her jaw with her foreclaw. +s'what I thought, flower princess. You're under arrest.+

*

"You look like a half-plucked chicken," said Princess Dandy.

+Bells, don't sugarcoat it,+ the thoughts rumbled like a growl from below the covers.

"You aren't taking care of your scales, Adila," said Dandy, opening her backpack and filling the room with a rush of herbal scents. "Your armour is chafing around the shoulders and infections are getting into the broken scales."

+So... your official medical advice is to wear more revealing clothing?+ thought Adila. Princess Dandy firmly pressed one finger into the exposed skin of Adila's neck and the dragon yowled and snapped. +Aah! Midnight bells, Dandy, that hurt!+

"Just making sure you're taking this seriously, Adila," said Dandy, starting to rub a salve into the exposed neck. "I'm amazed this hasn't happened sooner. I've never seen such raggedy scales. I'm going to need to change this dressing three times a day until you're better."

+Just show me how to make it,+ thought Adila, looking away. +You've done plenty already.+

"I have not even begun to solve this problem," said Princess Dandy. "This will take weeks to treat, and then afterwards you're going to go right back to your rough and tumble lifestyle if I don't put a stop to it!"

+Put a stop to - I am not one of your sheep, Dandy!+ said Princess Adila. +You can't boss me around and you don't need to baby me! Just, like, give me the medicine and I'll figure it out!+

Brown eyes met golden eyes and the air seemed to crackle.

This time it was Adila who flinched. Looked away. It was enough for Dandy; she didn't need to drag an apology out of the dragon. She just went back to rubbing the salve into the dragon's exposed muscles.

"Your chakras are flooded with energy," said Princess Dandy, feeling crown, brow, throat and heart. "And if energy doesn't circulate it grows stagnant. You need to be like the stream, Adila, not like the lake."

+Psh. Yeah, I'll get right on that after I'm finished scratching off scales - ow!+

"No scratching!" said Dandy, pinching. "Honestly, Adila, that's how this all got started."

+You try sitting still through all this itchiness,+ grumped the dragon.

"You just need to mediate! Find something to focus on, channel energy into your breath!" said Princess Dandy brightly.

Adila stared at her blankly. +You want me to channel energy into my breath.+

"O-or something productive. You're full of power, Adila, and you need to let it out somehow."

Adila didn't say anything. That was just what she needed, wasn't it? To let her power out more. Wouldn't that solve all her problems - applying even more force to them? She should have just applied more force to that exterior wall and that would have totally resolved that situation - +Ow!+

"That negative energy is exactly what I'm talking about, Adila," said Dandy. Her voice was firm but her eyes looked worried.

+I'm fine,+ she thought. +Just bandage me up. And...+

"Hmm?" said Dandy.

+Nevermind.+ thought Adila hurriedly. +Dumb thought, don't even worry. Hey, I'm not infectious or anything right? So I can go out after this?+

"Tell me, Adila," said Dandy. There was no contest of wills this time.

+I was wondering... if you could maybe read me a book? Or just turn the pages or something, it's just that it's kind of old and I don't want to accidentally damage it with my claws -+

Princess Dandy smiled. "Of course, Adila."


*

There was a lot to think about when it came to Dandy. She was strong and weak at once - no, that wasn't right. She made it okay to be weak, and then enveloped you with her strength once you were. The more you knew her the easier it was to relax around her, and the more relaxed you were the easier it was for her to get inside your head...

Adila had never gotten around to her prompting to meditate. It had seemed like a spooky idea to just sit and be in your head - if she ever sat that still what was to stop Dandy from just getting in and taking over everything? It didn't make sense, but it was like the fact that she was in motion was the only way she could keep hold of herself and not get trained like a farm animal. It was probably just the fact that she was in the wrong body right now that made this all right, probably just the fact that she'd already lost herself that made it okay to really think about someone else.

She held the garnet in both hands and, for the first time in her life, meditated.

[PhoeKun]

...Oh dear. Oh no. Oh no no, why does this keep happening? No, shake it off, Alina. Don't show fear. If you show them that you're scared, you might as well just lay down on one of their laps and lift your skirt to save everybody the trouble. She draws herself up as tall as possible, and... it doesn't really help. Why are all Riders so big? Can just one evil person please be Rita-sized? This would be so much easier then.

She rolls her eyes, instead. There, that did it. She's not reflexively backing away or drawing in on herself in a preemptive guard. Th-the important thing here is that they wouldn't notice Kazelia. And it'd stay that way if they kept their eyes on her. How hard could it be to keep up with a handful of creeps like this? It's not like the dragon would have already eaten the kite-thing Kazelia was building, thereby making this entire process much slower and harder to conceal, right? No, she's got this. They've both got this. And that means Alina can be in charge of this situation.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised you don't know what a successful witch hunt looks like, given that you can't seem to find the giant, golden dragon that's the only reason you're here. I can't wait to see the look on your King's face when he sees I'm the only one here who actually managed to accomplish what she was supposed to!"

She laughs, and it's real good, snooty stuff. Asteria-esque, even. Maybe it's even good enough for her to hide the fact that her left foot just slid backwards like she's contemplating running. Oh no. She's totally prey, isn't she?

[Anarion]

Lure the dragon to Eska.

You can do it!

Only, it’s going to be so much more scary. You don’t have a dragon kite to keep her attention. All of her attention is going to be on you, and you’re going to have to lead your worst nightmare on a merry chase while also being on fire. Because, let’s be honest. If you attract her attention? You’re not going to be able to evade all those gouts of fire.

It is going to hurt so, so much.

This is a choice. It might not seem like one, but it is. Nobody has to know you had this choice! You could just say that she ate the kite and then the capitol attracted her attention again. You could run away and let her burn the city down, because the price of being the bait is so terrifyingly high.

You can be a coward or you can burn.

Okay. Okay. Kazelia takes a deep breath. She's going to lure the dragon. Of course she's going to try and lure the dragon. It might be a choice, but if she ran off and let the dragon burn down the capital of Feloria, what would even be the point of all this? She's here to try and protect this beautiful world. Especially the flowers. They're the best thing in Hyperborea and there's no way she would ever let this dragon burn down the capital to save herself.

She is going to try and cheat though. She's got just enough magic for the small stunts. No more tools or equipment, but she can use her ice to try and blunt the breath, let herself slide a bit to the side so she doesn't take the full hit of it, try to push the dragon's head out of the way, try and throw up a thin wall between herself and the fiery impact. Slip through with just a few scorch marks and a singed cloak instead of taking a hit straight on. That's the goal, just stay one step ahead of the dragon. Don't lose it, don't let it get too close, just one step ahead to lead it wherever she wants.

[Kazelia is going with the breath option, but I'm going to roll to overcome that. 6+5+1=12.]

[Raz_Fox]

Alina!

“Of course we know where the dragon is,” Knifehair sneers at you, her teeth on full display. Megane glances around to make sure no Felorians happened to overhear. “It’s our job to be ready to kill it when the time comes. Or did the truth fall right out of your little princess head?”

“She’s right,” Megane mutters, at a volume that suggests you’re not supposed to hear. “The King has set a task for her. Let’s leave her alone. It’s not worth the risk...”

“She can do her job without her pretty dress,” Knifehair says, dismounting from her pegasus with ominous weight. “We’ll tell our lady we found it thrown away.” You can almost feel her hands on you already. “Come here, princess. Return what is ours.”

And behind the word you can almost hear him. There is an ugly viciousness in her eyes. An envy of what you are wearing, of your nobility, of your happiness. And a desire to see those things taken from you, for his— for her own satisfaction.

The sad thing is that her sense of personal style is actually really pretty. You could be swapping hair decoration tips right now, not bracing yourself to run away as elegantly as possible, in the opposite direction as Kazelia.

***

Kazelia!

When your sister casts her dark spells, it’s like a wave crashing against the shore, crushing anything that dares to stand before her like it was made of sand. But I don’t think that’s what your spells are like.

When I see this daring escape, I see a young princess acting with her magic as a part of her own body. Your will is quick and flexible and darting here and there, focusing to rapier points to create small and subtle effects in the world. You cast spells like you ride Shiva.

And that... that helps anchor you when your wound threatens to unravel you. That lets you remind yourself that you Are. That you matter. That you exist so strongly and so muchly that nothing can stop you.

There’s only one problem.

...where are you leading this dragon, exactly?

***

Adila!

You become aware of another presence, here, casting yourself outside yourself. As if you are meant to see. As if it is important that you are shown. This is how it feels, to be in the grip of this sort of magic: like you are to be silent and let your heart be still. To receive.

There is a shroud between you and the one you search for. It is dark. Tattered. Torn, as if slashed by knives. And yet, pushing through—

Splintered flashes. Scarabs and sand. The soft click of mechanisms. Satisfaction. Hot black tea.

The cracking of an egg. Wings, outstretched. Muscles flexing with enough strength to break stone. The sight of the world from above.

...cold.

The cold is the holes. The cold fills the holes. The cold is the empty which is cruel and grasping and sharp.

Your consciousness flinches back; it takes a moment of focused breathing to settle back against your core, your self.

Your Seeking is attuned, but not to Dandy. It is aligned with Eska, who stands between you and her. And yet... and yet the parts of her that are not the cold seem familiar. Like you could have met her at a coffee shop in the Bazaar, peering over mechanical charts with a keen eye.

A reminder, then, or a sobering demonstration, that Oberon ruins those he touches. Makes them vicious, biting, cold.

Could anything sew that back together? And if you were to take away that skin, that stabilizing half of her, what would be left but the cold?

That’s the price. It hits you somewhere south of the heart, in a vulnerable kidney or liver. You’re being shown the princess you need to save. The princess who once made golden scarabs on a world of bleak beauty. That’s the responsibility of seeing someone’s heart.

But you do know where she is. That’s the other part of it. In your hands, the garnet levitates, points the way. Follow, and you’ll end up where you need to go.

[Anarion]

...where are you leading this dragon, exactly?

You are reminded that the three princesses developed a carefully, finely crafted plan, and I'm sure you remember every detail of that plan with perfection, so that I need not explain what I mean when I say that Kazelia is leading the dragon to the blackberry, which would be obvious to anyone who paid attention to the plan.

But also, this is kiiiind of on Adila to root out Eska, and in the meantime the only plan is away from the city and away from the Riders hunting it.