“But I do want that!” Chen bursts out, then stops herself. “Well, I don’t know about pure-hearted. But like, I like being a prodigy and trying to do good and make the world nice and protect people who need it. I want [i]that.[/i] But I don’t…I don’t think it’s that simple for me. Each of my moms has something they want me to be, and it’s a little different. Hestia wants me to be…um, I don’t know if I can do the archetype names as well as you did mine, but like, Hestia wants me to be disciplined, polite, to think about risks and stuff, you know like ‘proper and upright sword saint’ or something. And Ysel, I think she kind of wants me to be Qiu almost? Not exactly Qiu, but like, she wants me to help expand Ys, reward my vassals and punish my opponents until they submit. Like uh ‘strong tough bandit princess’ or something. They both were excited that I like swords and magic and want me to be good at the things I like, but it’s like…it’s through their visions.”

Chen stops and thinks about what she just said. “You know, it’s stupid. I’ve been the heir to two shards all my life, I’ve trained with both parents in how to move through sunshards. They said something like you did, that you have to fit yourself into other people’s stories and flow with them into the role you want with their shard’s magic, actually. But, um, anyway, I haven’t…I mean, in all that time I’ve always just thought about doing my thing, finishing whatever job they set me or stopping whatever problem. I don’t really know what I’d do when I actually get them. Like, pure-hearted prodigy isn’t a look or a power or anything, is it? It’s not something I’d do with a shard. I mean, the only thing I know I’d want is a tail and ears like Li, um my snow leopard, we’d look so cute together.”