Chen was falling. It happened so fast that it took her a couple seconds for everything to catch up. time, blessedly, did decide to slow down a moment, long enough for her to replay the scene in her head. A few times. She had drawn, kicked forward, and used all the magic she could muster to rush at Qiu and far from even being a worthwhile match, she had been grabbed, pulled right out of her fighting stance, and flung out. But...what stuck with her were Qiu's eyes. Normally they were so smug, so full of life and sparkle and that burning passion that Qiu emanated. But when Chen had been right there, that close to her, Qiu catching the crystal blade impossibly in her teeth, Qiu's eyes had looked away, that had been sadness and a little pain. 

She came to a sliding stop with her feet against the side of the pyramid, still about ten feet off the ground. Sword still in hand. She had trained for thousands of hours by now, so the first two assault ribbons that tried to pull her down were split in two so casually that the sword swipe barely even registered. She certainly wasn't paying attention to it and her eyes were staring back up the pyramid as her sword came to a rest by her side.

Damn it! Wasn't Chen [i]supposed[/i] to be causing Qiu pain? She was supposed to be kicking her butt and stealing her shards and crushing her dreams for the good of...of...oh no. No, she'd messed up. This wasn't for anybody's good. Not even her own. Not her family's, not the other princesses, not Yue's or Rose's, least of all Qiu's. Qiu wanted something different and Chen had thrown it all in her face for...for nothing! No wonder she was mad! What was even the point?

She was constantly in motion. Those first two assault ribbons had been followed by twelve more that required a flurry of slashes. She moved through it like she was practicing the forms, slash up, slice down, momentum into hips and turn for another slash fading away only to go into another combination. Guards came up from below, a few trying to meet her head on and tie up her sword while others tried to grab her from below and behind. That made her have to speed up, like showing off back when Mom and Mommy were together and she would show off. Parry, press into the thrust, follow the momentum and kick for a sudden turn, then force backwards through the air turning to meeting the oncoming guards with a wide sweep and push them away. Step downwards, gaining height in the easy style, flying like you're walking up invisible stairs, weight on the balls of the feet. Parry again and riposte decisively, thrust into the opponent and knock them out of the sky before the next can be upon you.

Chen was going to have to take Qiu up on the trip to Sky Castle. If Qiu thought that Jessic really could help, that was a strong recommendation. Come to think of it, Chen couldn't remember Qiu recommending anybody to her before. Like, besides herself. So Jessic was probably really good. Besides that wasn't even accounting that Chen had basically promised to go if Qiu threw her out and Qiu hadn't hesitated in the slightest. It made her mad though! This all sucked. She just wanted a hug from Qiu! And like, okay, she wanted her to stop taking over the world too, but in the moment she had just wanted a hug. Instead Qiu had looked at Chen like...like she wasn't even supposed to be a princess and then flung her out like she [i]wasn't[/i] one and it just...It just urgh! It made Chen feel like she was a million billion miles away from Qiu and she was never going to get there. Seriously, Chen was barely making it through a handful of guards and animated ribbons!

She kicked another guard, using that momentum to launch into a proper flight, not just stair stepping but leading with the sword and that speed meant finally breaking some distance between herself and the pyramid. That was when she saw Yue and Hyra fleeing from a thick mass of the assault ribbons.

Chen had a little spark of hope when she saw her friends. It was almost like a fog lifting. Or coming up for air. Like...exactly that, actually? Chen felt like she hadn't been breathing. Hadn't she come here for Yue in the first place? Oh winds, Chen had been the one to say not to pick a fight and now she had gone and done it and it looked like everybody else was in just as bad straights. But that at least gave her something to focus on. With a little space, Chen noticed that some parts of the pyramid weren't half so stark as Qiu's initial presentation. There were little lights for the barracks, and people milling about (probably dismissed from Qiu's military parade maybe?) not to mention old tech with little towers and wires. And, most importantly, some cars! They had too many non-flying members to carry, so shoving down memories of Zatoichi with a gulp, Chen resolved to get her friends an escape route.

She was at the parking lot almost instantly, but it was full of surprised guards and more coming from behind along with the constant stream of assault ribbons. Qiu must have made hundreds of the things! Maybe this was even a shard thing? Didn't matter, she was already coming out of her flying stance with a charging thrust (the unlucky guard nearest the big van was, shockingly, not up to Qiu's level of deflecting swords with her mouth). She sliced upwards, the crystal light rising and released a burst of light at the apex of her slash, briefly blinding the guards as she leapt into the car. There wasn't really time to get it going properly, and less still to drive it, so she settled for throwing down the break, sending it hurtling forward with a blast of raw magical power, and then rolling out of the driver's seat to keep the rapidly approaching guards off the van and on her. 

Chen glanced back at the pyramid again, shaking her head. Her thoughts kept wandering back to Qiu. She didn't want things like this. She wanted to be a Princess, for real. Chen just...couldn't figure out what that meant yet. Chen was sure it wasn't throwing everything Qiu cared about in her face just because Qiu didn't understand her. It wasn't just running off and training until her moms were satisfied either. And...and it wasn't just doing what Qiu wanted and letting Qiu take over for Chen's moms in telling her what to do. That was something at least. Chen didn't want any of those things. It definitely did involve some good hugs and a new costume like...like that one that Cyanis made for her maybe...but poofier. 

She blushed but didn't slow down as she circled. She wasn't trying to move to a new spot now, so her form had changed. Sweeping strokes one after another. Not fast, but without leaving openings, a constant flow as she used a free hand to quickly shift and steady her aerial position and make sweeping crystal strikes with her blade. The goal was to force the guards into a half moon with her between them and the van and it was working. There was a bang and a clatter and a noise like a hundred vroom vrooming cars all growling at once, but no time to turn her head backwards to look what was going on. She needed to focus and keep enough space.

Chen did spare a glance through the crowd for Rose. Where was she? Between the two of them, they could get everyone else out of here. Had Qiu had a demon ready to ambush her? Or some special trick? She prayed that Rose was okay, going back towards that pyramid seemed like the most dreadful thing in the world to Chen right now, she couldn't bear to face Qiu after that.

[Chen is no longer smitten with Qiu. They're just too far apart right now.]