Adila came to a halt. Sat down on her haunches. Another piece of popcorn hit her, and then another. She radiated a wordless stubbornness even as the impacts continued.

[i]What are you doing? Go! We need to get through them![/i]

She cocked her head, raising an eyebrow.

[i]Fine! Yes! I am talking to you now.[/i]

Adila stood up, stretched languidly, and began to trot around the ring in a circle. She loved watching the horses when the circus came to the Bazaar. The way their manes tossed, their haughty raised noses, the way they'd turn on a dime. She followed in the example of their steady grace one flouncing step at a time. The rancor of the crowd began to settle as they waited for the show.

[i]You are off centre. Unfocused. Distracted in your mission. Deal with matters of the heart later.[/i]

Adila scoffed, a contemptuous too-canine snort, and picked up speed. She ducked her head low, focused on the ball, and bounced it up to balance on the tip of her nose, still maintaining her canter. 

[i]It is [b]not[/b] the same thing - urgh. You really are a princess, aren't you? I thought I trained you better.[/i]

Adila let the ball roll down her nose down along her crest. She flattened her crest just below it and raised it as it rolled, allowing her to very slightly grip it and hold it in place as needed. It rolled along her back smoothly, seeming to magically halt at certain points - especially when she needed to make hard turns. It rolled down her curling tail and with a flick passed back up to her nose.

[i]Your... friend... will understand. I suspect that she was upset mostly by the implication that you didn't fight for her when you had the chance. Moreover, I do not believe you truly [b]had[/b] that chance and you were just casting your own actions in an unfair light. The machinist was naturally talented at the craft.[/i]

Adila leapt into the air and smoothly bat the ball with the tip of her tail. It sailed through the flaming hoop with a swish. 

[i]Of course it's foolish that you like her! She has weaponized her insecurities and will lash out at anyone who even tries to come close. I am honestly amazed that she was able to put up with you for that long given how tenuously she was holding everything together. I was certain that she'd dispatch you on some suicidal errand and be done with you but... well, she didn't. I suppose she was better than I gave her credit for. And... she said that she could cross the void without harm. I don't... know what that would be...[/i]

The first few leaps through the hoop had just been a warm-up. Now she'd reached out with her tail to the trapezes and lifted herself up into the air by it. Why hadn't she thought of this? So long as the ropes were strong enough to support her she could act with the strange fluid grace of almost-flight. Humans seemed like they were made to dance and climb amidst the ropes but her body was built to understand the mechanics of flight, and no swirls or flips could dizzy her.

[i]And Iron Star is a dangerous menace and always has been. You know that not every devil takes Do As Thou Wilt seriously? They're kept in slums and district-prisons because they defy the laws of Devilhome, too willing to follow and serve in defiance of the law. Most devils are like that, punished for their lack of ambition. But Iron Star is a believer. She follows the law faithfully, and in so doing she has become a princess of their kind and those are perilous beyond compare. I should know, one of my closest allies was a devil princess. But that was different! There the peril was safeguarded by a love I still honour.[/i]

Adila finally plunged, spinning from the rooftops down towards the ring. She caught it with the tip of her tail and wrapped around it, looping around the ring one, two, three times, fires spreading along her tail. She leaped free and landed in the centre of the audience, surrounded by glittering embers, listening to the applause rise.

[i]... and no. That's not an endorsement. I... made use of love, yes. I understand the potency of it. But it is a weapon that bites harder than it heals. You might not be able to avoid it all together but you should still... restrain it. Expose yourself to it as little as possible. Reduce the risk of disaster.[/i]

[Marking the second use of my [i]Ancestral Spirit[/i] to Speak Softly with Adila 1: [b]5[/b]
- What would she have us do next?
- What can she tell me about her feelings towards Eupheria?
- What does she want, and how could I help her get it?