They were probably going to blame this on her, too. Alina Cascade, come back to Jedad in full war gear, and then all of a sudden a weird sandstorm kicks up and a bunch of even weirder mechanical bug-newts start filling the streets with bolts or darts or whatever they are? Yeah, they're probably already saying this has her written all over it. 

Not that she particularly cares right now. She'd have a whole lifetime of chances to make up for the troubles she's caused (well, the ones she [i]didn't[/i] mean to, at least). She'd have plenty of time later to catch up with Adila and help her get her head on straight again, or to deal with the fact that she'd just sort of left her friends standing there without having said so much as a word. They would understand. She only had this one chance to save her Momma, and she had to take it. 

Warm golden light spreads across her entire body as she dives into the streets with Rita no more than half a step behind her. It's like being wrapped in a blanket that smells just like her mother. It's like getting a hug from all of her sisters and Rita and Kazelia and Adila all at once. It's like... being Ourania. And just like any of those things, it promises Alina that she'll be safe, no matter what. Nothing bad can happen with Gold here to help her. 

In the sand and wind it's almost impossible to see more than a couple feet in front of her, but it's plenty enough to go by. She runs full out with her leaping deer gait, and not so much as a grain of sand touches a single hair on her head. Bolts come raining down on her from rooftops and stalls only to splash off of her like water rolling down feathers. When she twists or leaps or flips across the winding alleyways of the Bazaar, it's not for her own safety but so that she can keep Rita's path every bit as clear. Together they cut through Eska's defenses as if they weren't there. 

Alina's own Orange snaps to her wrist and latches onto a nearby rooftop as she grabs Rita by the waist. Silver flickers sparkle by her legs and when she leaps, it's with the strength of a dragon. Together, invincible kiss buddies go sailing high into the air. They could hardly do better if they had wings of their own. There's just enough time to savor the look of surprise on Eska's face before they reach the crest of the swing and start falling toward the Clocktower. Alina curves backwards like a bow. For a moment, she seems frozen in time. Then she snaps back while Rita leaps out of her arm, and she unleashes an enormous burst of light in all five colors on her crown that she truly feels are hers. There's an audible crack in the air as the light hurtles at Eska like a spiraling lance...

That crashes against the side of the tower maybe four or five feet to the right of where the clever sniper is standing. Eska's face twists into a sneer, despite the sweat beading on her forehead.

The boot goes down onto the knife. The knife cuts through the rope. Isolde, Momma, falls. 

It's at this moment that a couple of things happen almost all at once. Firstly, Alina pulls into a swan dive and dips back down into the swirling sands after Isolde with her golden halo still wrapped around her. Secondly, Adila of the Watch comes flying up to the tower, projecting her thought-warnings and being the best friend-dragon any princess could ask for. She's so lucky, that Eska. 

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, all parties concerned will now notice that Alina did not, in fact, miss those few moments earlier. Rather, what she'd done is make a rainbow light-bridge, which is now anchored solidly to the ledge of the Clocktower's roof and is carrying the lovely Princess Rita von Catabas toward them with all of the grace and agility you could ask for from the princess of Askaia. 

When she leaps, it's joyful. When she spins through the air, it's like watching an Illuminan ballet. When she whips her foot straight into Eska's chest, it's with the extremest of prejudices and near abouts heedless of the fact that Adila is right there watching it happen. This is the part that Lina would've messed up, by the way. Her head's not on quite straight just now. But Rita?

Well, she bounces from foot to foot with glee and flashes Adila a sharp toothed and shameless little grin the way that only a cat (or a cat/girl, one supposes) can. 

"Hey Adila!" she chirps, "Don't worry about this, Lina and I are [i]expert[/i] counter-hypnotists."

[Alina uses the power of the Golden Warrior and rolls to Finish Eska with Grace: [b]7[/b]. Paying her Bridge spell as the price for acting against a Threat, and damaging Courage as the cost of rolling while armored by Gold]