[b]Han![/b] "It means I fell in love with you," Lotus says, the bravest girl in the entire Flower Kingdoms. Her glasses are a little crooked; her lips are wet with your mouth's... wetness. Her blue hair's a halo on the pillow. "I don't know exactly where, but... I like you, a lot, and I care about you, and I think you're a hero. And I think. I think I would be [i]very[/i] lucky if you wanted to give me a chance, because I feel [i]safe[/i] around you, Han of the Flower Kingdoms. Han of the Dragons." She brings your hand up to her chest, and you can feel the heart beneath her skin. Her soft, gentle, demigod heart, which is beating for [i]you[/i]. Delicate, like a flower. But she's placing that flower in your hands because she trusts you not to bruise the petals. And the look she's giving you... "You won't break me," she whispers. "I want this. I want you. I want you to kidnap me [i]back[/i] from her. I want you to toss me over your shoulder and run off with me, and I don't care if my mother's watching. I want you to be [i]my[/i] big mean dragon who's going to make me her bride, as long as I can be the priestess who kisses your bruises and I can stop you from hiding your injuries and pretending that you're [i]fine[/i]. As long as I can be [i]yours[/i], Han. I'd pick you-- I [i]am[/i] picking you. Over everything in my mother's house. Because all of it isn't [i]you[/i]." Lotus of Tranquil Waters is the daughter of a member of Venus's court, and right now, you know what Venus [i]means[/i]. It means her pulling you closer because she wants you to do the same. It means being wanted and having [i]your[/i] want be wanted back. It means hunger and it means thirst. It means a girl who gets squirmy when she gets tied up but wants [i]you[/i] tying the knots and keeping her quiet, because she feels safe with [i]you[/i]. And it means a girl who sees you hurting and tears up because [i]she wants to kiss you better[/i]. Do you make her feel that she is loved back, Han of the Flower Kingdoms? [hr] [b]Piripiri![/b] The sip of tea is calculated. Loud enough that you can barely hear it over the sizzling of the food. And there she is: the woman who trained you all those years ago. She has an umbrella; she has a hat with a veil all around the rim, parted so that she can bring the tea to her lips. Beside her is a teapot, which you did not hear sing. "Well," she says. "How has your service to the Red Wolf come along, dear?" Her voice betrays nothing, but to ask is to know. She always knew before you did. Go ahead. Admit it to her first, so that you can then admit it to yourself. [hr] [b]Kalaya![/b] [b]"It is very clear,"[/b] says the goddess, and the words she uses mean [i]illumination[/i] and [i]glory[/i] and [i]I am impressed[/i] all at once. Her palanquin rises out of the waters. She is [i]huge[/i]. She could pick you up with one hand and shake you like a child's doll. Around her are cranes, and warrior goddesses, and ferns the size of [i]you[/i], and little brown foxes, and pillows, and in the middle of it she lounges, head propped up on one hand, sapphire-sequined dress hugging her curves, and she looks a little like your mother, because she looks a little bit like [i]everyone's[/i] mother. The Sapphire Mother of Lotuses slowly blinks at you, considers you. Around her are demigods with burnished spears, flowing dresses, knight's breastplates: some of her many daughters. Then she nods, once. [b]"This one. [i]This[/i] is the knight."[/b] And what that means is [i]chosen[/i] and [i]royalty[/i] and [i]guardian[/i] all at once. [b]"Kalaya Na. The Dominion desires our home. Hell seeks to destroy it. You and the Stag Knight have been warring for my heart; but you [i]love[/i] more. You love when it is foolish and you love when it is hopeless, and that is what we need for our Champion."[/b] This is how she chooses you. This is the moment in which the fate of the Flower Kingdoms shifts. What is the token she offers you, the one that will convince Uusha to stand by your side against the Dominion, that will unite the Kingdoms behind you, Queen of Queens, Knight of the Sapphire Mother? [hr] [b]Fengye![/b] The real question, the one left remaining for you, is who you're leaving with tonight. On the one hand: the most eligible employer in the entire Flower Kingdoms is in front of you, and if there is anyone who can talk her way into her court tonight, it is [i]you[/i]. On the other hand, there [i]is[/i] still a N'yari here, who has just had the fear of Kalaya Na put into her, and she's going to be very well behaved. On the third hand, you have always had a will of your own. That's why you volunteered to wear the mask in the first place. Tell us your plan, tamer of demons. [hr] [b]Giriel![/b] That distracts her just long enough, makes some long-buried modesty flare up, that you can tackle her, and the two of you are wrestling, and there are wind-leopards everywhere, and somewhere behind you is a scream and a surge of power, but you have to trust in goodness and keep Peregrine pinned underneath you, one hand over her mouth, until the leopards grow bored and slink away, leaving you panting and sweating and vulnerable to being stabbed in the back-- But Ven just sighs, standing over the two of you. "...you'll need help with an exorcism," she says. Her silhouette is different. Tearing off your own arm will do that to a woman. Behind her, blackening the grass underneath it, lies her brass arm, the fingers slowly curling up like a dying snake. The good news is that once you've exorcised her, Peregrine will be mostly fine. Upset that you pulled her back from the brink, but once she really starts thinking again, she'll realize that she wasn't the charioteer and that she wasn't at the reins, and then she'll be [i]angry[/i]. Not at you, she'll just be embarrassed and quietly offer her support with whatever you have planned next. The bad news is that you still have to carry out that exorcism. Better make it the best one the Flower Kingdom's ever seen. Peregrine deserves nothing less.