It takes Alina a while to speak up. It's not that she doesn't have anything to say! It's more that... it's taking her forever to get a handle on her dress. Every time she moves even a little bit, the hoops in her skirt shift and the entire massive ensembles rolls up and seems to swallow her in her chair. Layer after layer after layer of the brightest, gaudiest, [i]girliest[/i] pink you've ever laid eyes on flare up and over the top of her, which does a wonderful job of showing off the lacy ridge at the bottom and the stiletto heels with obnoxiously oversized bows on the tops of her feet that she's been forced into, but also turns her from the graceful ideal of Illuminan Princessing to a hopelessly silly girl who can't stop fidgeting or even master sitting. 

She has to stand up to get a handle on it. She's immediately forced back down, but she's able to tuck her feet underneath her like a mermaid's tail, and that's enough to squash this stupid skirt into obedience. She tugs up on the fuzzy pink top to keep it from slipping off of her chest. Sleeveless dresses have never entirely been Alina's friend, but it's doubly difficult when Eupheria has apparently decided she needs a little more [i]wowza[/i] up top and has filled out the chest with a frankly insulting amount of padding. Her frame can't possibly carry this much cleavage! She pouts and she sighs, silently. Only her eyes seem unchanged. Hard crystal, eternal and defiant. Green pulses softly, demanding her sisters back.

"My name is Alina Cascade, and I'm the current Princess-Promised of Illumina. I... think I'm going to wind up being Queen soon. My Mom is really sick and I don't think she can get better and take care of the kingdom at the same time. But I'm really worried about it, because if I can't find the right medicine to help her she might freeze over again anyway and, besides, I'm the worthless idiot who let Oberon take Illumina in the first place, what kind of terrible Queen would I make?"

She's interrupted by a laugh track. Alina's face burns with shame. Her eyes continue to burn with quite a different set of feelings. She opens her mouth to say something, but her voice is drowned out like an out of tune radio. More laughter. She tries again: static. The laugh track, the same exact sound clip just stuck on a loop, rises to deafening levels. Alina takes a deep breath and recomposes herself.

"I'm, um, really mad at you for making Kazelia admit she wants me to tie her up, even though I'm definitely excited to try it and I know that Rita just loves the idea of threesomes because when we're making out at night sometimes we'll talk about how wonderful it would be to get kidnapped by Esmeralda. You know, as a couples' activity! B-but that's not the point! You're mean and awful and you stole my lights, I want them back! Looking at you makes my heart feel sick... for my whole life, I've always thought that families were the most special things in the world. We're supposed to support each other and share all of our happiest moments together. My family's always been there to pick me up in all my worst moments, even when nobody else would, and I want to be like that for them! But... but how can I, when an awful bully like you is family, too?"

She whimpers as all of a sudden, a crushing force pushes her head down to stare at the floor in fake contrition. How dare she say that about her favorite Auntie?! More thoughts bubble up to the surface of her mind. Her hands start trembling, and the tears bead up in her eyes.

"But I'm a big dumb liar anyway. I couldn't even keep my Momma from disappearing! She didn't say goodbye, she never wrote letters, she just left! She just left! Didn't I love you enough, Momma? What did I do wrong? Why did you leave me to lie to Jess and Free about how you felt about us? Why did you break Mom's heart? There was a reason, right? There has to be a reason! I want to believe there was a reason! But I... but I... but I..!"