Earth.

For thousands of years humanity has been desperate to give it a better name. Terra. Sol. Gaia. Tellus. Scrambling through ancient languages and mistranslations in the hopes that there will be something more cooler, more dignified to be than an Earthling. None of those have ever truly stuck. They're all just pretend names, nicknames tried on by an indecisive teenager trying to show how they've outgrown the word that they came up with when they were still awestruck by the dirt's ability to become green and delicious. They do not come from a place of sincerity, and so while they might bloom for a time, they fall away like dried moss to reveal the eternal earth underneath.

Earth is surrounded by the wreckage of a battle between minnows. A graveyard of dead satellites swarms overhead, a microscopic echo of the destruction that surrounded the Eater of Worlds in a dream so long ago. Many of them squint down at the ground through glass eyes. Many of them are armed, bellies swollen with the devoured wealth of nations; the flags of the countries they consumed glitter brightly on their pristine white surfaces. In addition to the paranoid, ground-facing machinery is the infrastructure to leave. Massive sets of jaws yawn open like steel crocodiles, waiting to be fed mineral-rich asteroids. Orbital factories wait silently, endless lines of identical robotic arms waiting to be fed the components they need to build new starships. Empty space stations dot the sky, memories of the Tunguska - vast cathedrals of labour and commerce ready to be filled again with vast workforces to build ships to cross the cosmic sea. Orbital elevators rise from the ground below to hurl the bones of that ancient planet into the stars. Long ago, this was where those ancient explorers set their feet before launching into the air.

All silent now, as silent as Pluto. All of that machinery served its purpose. Everyone who wanted to leave has left.

Lights still glitter down below.

Some people stayed behind. All the galaxy before them, all the skies above them, all the promise of the black, all the heavens within reach. All of that infrastructure still there, waiting patiently to be used again. The people down there on those green continents could step out the door at any time.

The Gods are, for once, silent. Their squabbles, their opinions, their rivalries are all quiet here. Everything is quiet here. Everything is -

A golden fire burns on the horizon of the planet. A plume of spectacular light briefly outshines the sun. A whirling return crash of crimson shatters against it. A streak of blue burns through the sky like a toxic comet; drawn as if by a magnet to the glittering detonations. It joins the other lights with a crash of unspeakable violence that parts the clouds and transforms the weather patterns. A battle. Even here. Not serene after all.

With that grim thought in your heads, the Plousios begins to fall. It falls through the halo of debris, impacting chitin, metal, glass and - soft fur? It falls through the atmosphere, dragging a wake of fire behind it. It falls through the clouds, ripping them to ribbons. It falls across an endless ocean, across an island chain, across a long peninsula, across a rolling and endless continent. It falls across a lake, and then a waterfall, and then another, and then another, and then another. In the depths of the pit surrounded by mountains on all sides, the great doors of the Plousios open wide ten of thousand warriors, labourers, servitors and monsters make their way to the doors. They feel the light of a single golden sun wash across their faces and look out at a green and pleasant land that their ancestors hated so much they couldn't wait to leave.

No army comes to meet them. No Gods. Only...

In a house, on a hill, by a lake (well, by a number of lakes but let's not dwell on details), less than half a day's walk from what you could call Town but more than a full day's walk from what you could call The City, a girl spends her morning in ritual. Not an official ritual, or a very fancy one, but important enough to her to repeat it every day she's home. The half-remembered tune, hummed because she does not know the words. And also because she cannot whistle. Not that she hasn't tried. But all the same it's a beautiful tune, and it lifts her onto her toes so she can dance. She leaps, birdlike, across her kitchen, minding the frying pans with one hand and the steaming basket with the other. All while keeping one eye on the kettle so that she does not miss the moment when the water reaches its proper temperature.

This is a day like any other, but it is also a very special day: it is her first morning home again after her trip to pluck the silver needle leaves while they were at their proper peak of freshness. Later, tomorrow probably, she would go through the process of sorting the best leaves out and handing them away to her friends, family, and assorted neighbors, but today? The first cup was all for her. Only for her. It's the kind of breakfast Princesses have, probably.

Silver Needle is a very particular tea, requiring a very particular brew to bring out its very particular flavors. But the girl making it for herself is not very particular at all. She loses herself in her song again, and when she twirls her way back to the stove it's with a thought toward keeping the pork from burning instead of washing the leaves with pre-boiling water. She does not mind the steep either, so she can fluff the rice instead. She cracks an egg and stirs it into some diced onions so she can fry them in the pork juices, and her tongue darts out from between her lips in anticipation. It's only after she's arranged the bowl to her liking (piled deliciously but messily high) that she remembers to pluck the leaves from the water again, well after the one minute and thirty seconds where they release their best flavors.

That's ok. It doesn't bother her at all. She can drink it without blowing on it like this, you see. And if it's a little bitter then it's nothing that a dab of honey won't fix. It's not important that it be perfect. Really, nothing she ever does quite is. What matters is that it's for her, and nothing and no one can take that away from her.

Does she take the first bite of breakfast first? Or the first sip of the season first? That's the only question occupying her mind. She brings the cup to her lips, and that first delighted shiver up her spine is met with a loud rumble of thunder from outside. The girl sets her tea down again and reaches for that honey after all, while she turns her head toward the window with a quizzical expression etched on her face.

That's funny, she thinks. It didn't strike her as a particularly rain-bringing night last night. And nothing about the early morning had really disagreed with the night. But sure enough the sky is growing darker, and quickly. She stops and thinks through a perfect bite of pork, egg, onion, and rice: is she forgetting something? She remembered to bring in the laundry, right? No, she must have because all her clothes had been out with the sheets, and she can never get to sleep on a bare mattress. No worries, then! It might be weird, but what's a little rain against the best breakfast ever when you're already inside?

At least, she'd liked to have thought that way. Before she'd even had time to eat her way down into the Problem Zone where she realizes she'd added too much rice to go with her delicious, indulgent proteins and her meal was about to become half as delicious if she didn't do something fast, she's interrupted by another rumbling. Much louder than before, and actually if she thought about it this was really more of a roar at this point? Her dishes rattle in the cupboard. Her miscellany topple from her table and make a mess on the floor. Her teapot wobbles awkwardly off the end of her foot after she spears the handle with her leg to keep it from shattering. With a little kick that has one quarter too much flourish for how scared she suddenly is, she flips it back onto the table and busies herself making sure it's too centered to fall over and break.

And now, several things have become clear. One: this is not a storm. Weirdly enough it is raining? But the patterns are unnatural, and it's much too dark for how little is actually managing to fall. Also there's never been thunder this loud or this close, so much that it makes her feel like she's in an earthquake. No, this is something else or she's a mouse. And she isn't: she's a girl. Well, 'a woman' is possibly the more appropriate term, but she's resisted using it for most of her life. And really, she's straddling the line a little bit between the two. When the light hits or right or especially when she smiles there's an element of girlishness to her that seems to fill her being. But here in the shadows? With the grim look on her face as she marches toward her front door? The word does her insult.

She throws open the door and steps out into the storm, still in her pajamas. Her gaze turns upward and her jaw drops down. She beholds a massive floating structure of blue crystal on other blue crystal, roaring like a monster and billowing black smoke and storm clouds as it passes. Too big to make any sense; only able to be taken in its totality because of how high up it is. And yet, nowhere near high enough. This thing is going to land. It's going to crash, from the looks of things. And very, very close by.

"Oh... goshies," observes Yue the Sun Farmer, "That's gonna be a problem."

And she's right. Because whether that thing is a monster, or it's just full of them, it's very definitely evil. Just looking at it makes her eyes feel unclean. And if a monster (or monsters)' gonna come land on top of her home? You're gosh danged right that makes it her business, sun farmer though she is. Though her job is a little less relevant than her hobby at the moment.

Into her house, she darts like sopping wet lightning into firs the bathroom (to fetch a towel) and then the bedroom (to fetch appropriate clothes), frantically dabbing herself dry before wriggling into a dress the color of dappled sunshine and seafoam, covered throughout with decorative plates of simple metal armor that, at least while she's running around her house, don't seem to confer any sort of real protection at all. Hopping, tripping with a mighty 'yeep!' and rolling around on the floor, Yue manages to wrestle her sandals onto her feet and ties the straps tight. She rolls up over her shoulder and pops back onto her feet with an even mightier 'meep!' which is not at all a frightened reaction to the latest round of crashing roars coming from outside, and rushes over to her umbrella stand.

"Um. Uh. Hm. Uh? Hm. I dunno what I, erm, oh this one's really good but-- oh maybe the big one? No no no, that's ridiculous, how would that even help? I should just grab the-- no but it's so cool though! Oh, gosh gosh goshies, how do I pick?"

Yue's umbrella stand, it should be said, is stuffed full of swords. Also one (1) umbrella. Which she grabs! Obviously! But then her hand hovers over the hilt of a big two-handed sword roughly the size of a surfboard before drifting away to a delicate silver rapier. She grabs a katana without really thinking, then makes a face like she just ate a lemon and shakes her head once, twice, three times. And then! Weeeelllll, maybe? No, no. No. She puts it back. Then picks it up again. Then puts it back. She makes another little face and snatches it up once and for all and quickly ties it around her waist before she can think about it anymore.

"There's no time for this you sillyhead! If you don't go fix this right now, this afternoon's picnic'll be ruined! Probably! Think about how much is at stake, ok?"

In the end, she takes the giant sword. And the rapier. And the katana. And a pair of daggers attached by a loop of metal wire, and a small handaxe, and lastly a beautiful silver sword with a small but ornate guard and a straight, elegant blade. She smiles as she slips it into her belt. She leaves behind the bow, which she is still practicing and not that confident with, and her collection of handguns 'cause as cool as they are, this is a serious moment, ok?

Also? She forgets the umbrella. Instead of grabbing that, she goes back to her table and grabs her teacup. Somewhere in all of this, it's gone cold. She stubbornly sips it anyway, then stares out the open door at the smoke belching, sky splitting horror descending like a Sky Shark on everything she loves. She makes a pained, fussy sort of noise, and hopping from foot to foot puts the kettle back on the heat.

It's just! Bad luck! To not enjoy tea properly before an adventure! Probably! What would you know about it?! And while she's waiting for Cup Number 2 she's got time to go rummaging through her kitchen to find the container full of brownies she'd made the other night, the ones made with dark chocolate and chili crisp that she dotted with flaky salt like the first kiss of snow on a dark hill. Because, like, maybe monsters like brownies? Especially spicy ones? Hyra would be disappointed, but she of all people would understand if it was to save the picnic. Er, world. Whichever!

"Ah ah ah ah, hot hot hot owie owie ow!"

Yue clutches at her cup, too fresh and too hot to be enjoyed but out of time to wait, and dashes out the door with her swords rattling awkwardly against her scrawny frame. Instantly, she is soaked. Instantly, her palm moves to cover the cup and protect the precious tea inside. She's running with all her might, moving like the wind down the hill and toward the Terraced Lake.

Once there, she bravely hides behind a rock to gasp for (strategic) breath, sip (strategic) tea, and peak her head out (so, so bravely) to see what kind of crystal beast it is she has to fight. She's seen a lot in her life at this point, y'know? But this really takes the cake. Well, the brownies anyway. Which, she’s realizing, she did not bring enough of. Shoot.

How could it be anything but a monster? Or a city full of them? Maybe even a monster full of monsters. Because other than a giant plume of steam, everything she sees is terrifying, if not outright evil.

This pockmarked, scarred monument to excess and the color blue is sitting in the lake down the hill from her house, still belching black smoke into the plumes of rapidly evaporating water that are blotting out the storm clouds it already formed around it as it crashed. She watches dozens, if not hundreds, of tubes (...tongues? Please do not be tongues) suddenly zip out of the sides and begin drinking up the lake to such excess that she worries it’s going to run dry. And from the sounds of shouting coming from all over, she can tell that other people from around the area have come to the same conclusion. Though, none of them have quite been brave enough to get as close as she has.

Well then. There’s really nothing for it, is there? Space Monster though this may be, it (or they) is (or are!) being very rude and if she is going to be able to keep from disappointing her friends and her neighbors the very least that she can do is step up and do something about it all. Besides, hasn’t she been practicing a metal cutting technique? That should work on crystals too, shouldn’t it?

She takes a long sip of tea. It’s delightfully warm and not at all bitter, enough to fill her belly and all the way down to her feet with the quiet strength of springtime. She takes a deep breath and steadies herself. Ok girl, now’s the time to make a good first impression.

Yue steps out from behind her hiding place and draws her favorite sword. No, not that one. Or that one. Or those. Not that one either. Her simple, straight longsword with its beautiful silver blade and its minimalist guard. It’s the weapon she’s been with the longest, and the one that she trusts the most. Not that you aren’t cool, other swords! You’re super duper cool! The very coolest! Like, why else would she have brought you all unless you were so precious and perfect? But everyone knows you lead with surety. And this is the blade that goes with her dress, and the dress is what taught her she could be a swordswoman in the first place, so in the end that’s all the choice there is to make.

She settles into a combat stance, and suddenly the pieces of her armor make sense. She is guarded, as much as she is guided, by the perfection of her form. It steps like this, following like this, moving like this, and finishing like this. She points her blade at this demon leviathan ship thing, as it moans and opens its jaws/docking bays at the sight of her, and focuses all of her effort on looking as cool and as poised as possible.

“Um! Excuse me! You are being extremely rude right now!” she chirps, not at all nervously, “If you’re here for a fight that’s one thing but that is no excuse not to at a minimum introduce yourself before you go sluprin’ up our lakes like that!”

Her foot slides into position, the beginning of the dance.

“My name is Yue! Just Yue! Of the Terraced Lake! I brought snacks and butt kickings but I dunno if I’ve got enough of either so I hope you’re good at sharin’!”

From the jaws of the beast, a wolfgirl emerges. Now, she's not Hyra. But there's certain similarities all the same, such as the fetching triangles and the way that they twitch. She's wearing a scarf wrapped about her hair and neck, and one end of it catches the breeze as she descends, looking not at Yue but at the sky. She doesn't seem to mind the rain much. No, she's grinning from ear to ear - she must love the rain.

She looks around as she makes her way down. She's not alone, either. Behind her, those terrible jaws are tentatively pouring forth more wolfgirls, and mousegirls, and a beautiful catgirl, and a sheepboy, and a snakegirl or two, and two familiar foxgirls all the way in the back, an entire menagerie of people tentatively following in the footsteps of this forerunner. She's coming down the fastest, though. And she's got armor on like a fish's scales, and a sword swinging by her side, and a fur coat with all sorts of bristles in the fur, and underneath her gauzy scarf she's got hair the color of really nice buttered corn.

She's crying, too. The tears are mingling with the rain and she's grinning, so maybe she's enjoying crying, or maybe something got into her eyes and stung but she's toughing it out. There, near the bottom, she turns around and looks, properly looks, at the vast behemoth which vomited her up and is still sucking up lakes, getting the last little dribbles of water down at the bottom where all the fish should be hiding. Maybe they're stealing fish to make suits of armor for spunky wolfgirls.

Yue has to clear her throat to get this mini-Hyra to snap out of it and pay attention. And those ears flick up and the woman looks Yue up and down in a flash with mismatched eyes: one like the dearly departed lakes, the other like the rolling hills in the midst of summer when all the grass is growing long.

"Hello!" The word bursts out of her explosively. She's shaking a little bit, the way that you might when your birthday suddenly has a surprise party on it after you thought everyone in the neighborhood straight-up forgot about it. "Is this - we're on Gaia, aren't we? This has to be it. It's beautiful." One might uncharitably note that she's not looking at the muddy sad pits where lakes used to be. She's looking at Yue, and the bystanders, and the hills, and the cottages, and the horizon. "We've come a very long way, and - I'm sorry, Bella told me I should have practiced this part more, hello, I'm Princess-Alpha Redana Claudius of the Silver Divers, and I'm here with a message from Hades. Can you... do you know who I need to speak to? Are you the Empress of Gaia? Or the most high priestess? Or..."

A slow blush steals over her cheeks, and she reflexively hides her face behind the scarf. "...well, I'm sure we'll figure out who the message is for," she says, failing to live up to her mother's legacy at the very last possible second.

(Just) Yue!

There is a sheepboy.

Ordinarily, this would not be worth mentioning. Oh! Not because sheepboys aren’t worth mentioning! Because they are! For all sorts of reasons that you definitely don’t have time to get into, not on a morning where you’re dealing with monsters full of monsters and also a tricky cup of tea. Come to think of it, that’s why it wouldn’t be worth mentioning in the first place. There’s sheep, and there’s boys, and there’s sheep who are boys, and there’s boys who are sheep, and they’re all quite lovely in their own ways but not really the sort of thing to pay attention to when there’s a monster full of monsters you’ve got to contend with. But! This one! This one came out with all the other monsters, so onto the Mentioning List he goes.

Hmm. Perhaps not very high on the Mentioning List, all the same. He’s not doing much of anything. Well, he’s watching, and he’s listening, and that’s two things, and two’s not really a much sort of number most of the time. Especially when those are two things sheeps tend to do a lot of. He is very much like a sheep, isn’t he?

Except. Hrm.

He is very much like a sheep, but very much like and is a aren’t really the same thing, are they? Sheeps aren’t ever as still as he is. Not ever. Not even when they’re scared. Not even when a wolf’s about, and Hyra did apologize about that but she was smiling an awful lot when said it so you apologized to the poor sheep too, just in case. No, this isn’t a very sheep-like stillness at all. It’s, ummmmmm. Hrm.

It’s like a fox about to pounce, but gentle? But slow? A slow pounce. Somebody who is ready to spring into sheepish action, which typically moves at a reasonable bumble.

No, no, he’s only very much like a sheep, isn’t he?

Perhaps, perhaps this is how this sort of monster hides?

Anyway! Watch out, Just Yue! Don’t let that sheepboy sneak his way off the List! And don’t let the cute little vest distract you! Or the little pad of paper he’s writing on! Or the curly wool! That one should be easy! Whatever he’s been grazing on, his wool is not nearly as thick as any sheep or sheepboy you’ve ever seen! Maybe that means he’ll be more amenable to snacks! Instead of butt kickings!

Anyway! He’s got a little sword too! So! No distractions!

Dyssia is rapt.

Weird word, that? Normally it conjures images of snakes and swirly eyes and sheer silks and a stark monofocus, but everywhere she turns, she finds more to be fascinated by. She's entranced, as it were, by everything she sees.

Gaia! Cradle, homeplace, birth of species! Admittedly, for another species, so she's probably not getting the full impact, but something that's important!

Not important enough to--

She's glad that some people stayed, anyway. Some people looked at the wreckage of business and industry and space and travel and said "this is home." Anyone can leave if they want!

Anyone. There's a twinge at that, a pang of bittersweet.

The idea of a planet so unloved that nobody would want to live there feels like swallowing a live coal.

She gestures, and a table (blue, crystal) and some chairs (blue, crystal) and some food (clearly out of place but beloved) are brought forward, and she contrives to indicate through facial expression that they're sorry for all the mess, and this is a lovely planet, and would you like some cookies? They go really well dipped in cocoa!

Ok! Ok ok ok! Also, not... ok?

Like, this is a lot, actually. A whoooooole heaping helping of a lot. Where does one even begin to count all of the a lot there is? Well obviously you start with the crab-- wait. No but like, they've got snakegirls??? Why is that second one in chains? Is everybody just... erm, I'm sorry, what's with all of the little dudes in the yellow robes? Why does everybody look so... dirty?

Oh right no the monster, of course. Ok but then why is there a tiny happy-sad wolfgirl laughing and crying and asking her like a million (four) questions? Oh wait no, she said something else, didn't she? A very very, super duper important little word.

"Right!" chirps Yue, "Ok! I think I get it!"

Her smile is as simple and radiant as the dawn. You know the one, right? When it rises just right over the hill and catches the scattered bits of all the other suns and the whole sky just lights up with green and purple and orange? Well I mean she's just regular Yue-colored the whole time but that's how it feels right? It's a smile, like... ok picture it, right? You've been up all night workin' on a special project, just a fun bit of art ok? And you decide to make yourself a cup of coffee, lots of cream and sugar as a special little treat, yeah? 'Cause of course you do! You've been up all night! And little treats are good for the soul! And you step out onto your porch with your little kitty mug and riiiiiiiight as you're blowin' on it you look and--

Oh. Y-you get it. But it's that kind of feeling ok? That's what her smile's like. It is only in this moment that some of the gathered crew of the Plousios might realize that they didn't understand what being happy really looked like until just this second. There's both a sharpness and a softness to it that genetically codified releases of endorphins on completion of a task defined by your Purpose really lacks. She's kind of a plain sort of girl, her lots of swords and gorgeous armor dress notwithstanding. But smiling like that (there's all that girlishness on display again, by the way), she's almost prettier than this whole Gaia thing you came to see.

"Right. Ok. How did this go again?"

Yue takes a deep breath. And then! She tosses her beautiful sword high into the air. Immediately following the motion she jumps into the air, but not after it. Her hands snap up and behind her back to grab the hilt of the giant blade she's got secured back there. She lands again and slashes at nothing, just the air really, digging the tip deep into the soft earth before... zip! She flips over top of it and bounces perfectly off of the top of the handle and tosses one of her wire-daggers forward to catch her first sword again. And as she's flying up she flicks her wrist, one two three now! And her sword dances through the air to smack against the side of the ship. She yanks the wire back even as she's dropping back toward the ground and the crowd of weirdos gathered in front of it.

She lands and, whoops, shoot shoot shoot! Takes four little hops to get her balance and then another two to avoid bobbling all of her pretty weapons all over the ground. Finally she gathers it all together and makes an awkward show of sheathing everything, growing paler and more worried looking the entire time.

"Um," she ums, "Were, uh... are none of you gonna... like, I thought! But you said!"

"This is a waste of time," says Bella, "Listen. Kid. I'm glad you're not scared but we're really busy here. If you could at least tell us which way we need to go to find your Empress that'd be a big--"

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh gosh gosh goshies I'm so sorry! I am so sorry! Please don't be mad! I'll fix it, ok? She, um, er, sh-she just... she said she was a Princess! So I just! I thought that! You were supposed to! It was the most obvious thing I could! I was! But none of you! I mean, nobody? Nobody at all? I mean no! I'm sorry! I shoulda known better! I thought I heard Princess but you musta said princess and that's just a whole other... oh gosh, do you promise you're not mad?"

It is a testament to Bella's growth as a person that she does not in this moment toss Yue into what's left of the lake. To her growth or to guilt, maybe. Either way she doesn't do it. She simply steps forward and looms (good goshies is she good at looming!) over Yue. And it is a testament to her growth that she chooses her regular hand and not the one covered in spiky death gauntlet to touch the shoulder of this messy brown-haired sword repository and try to calm her down.

And just as she does that, Yue notices her longsword rattling loose in its sheathe. She reaches for her hip and clicks it into place, nice and snug and secure.

That's when the Plousios snaps in half. It's not a perfect cut by any stretch of the imagination (in fact it's very super wiggly), but that doesn't make the ship any less in half. Water rushes from its bifurcated carcass, roaring and splashing as it dumps its contents back into the Terraced Lake. Not enough to fill it? But enough that you can look at it and see what it's supposed to be again.

Yue looks up. And up. And up. And up at Bella, and gives her a sheepish smile.

"I. Er. Really thought you'd parry that? It was, like, sayin' hello y'know? 'Cause you were all... ahahahahaha uh. Right. Um. So. Who um. D-do you guys like tea? 'Cause I can--"

"...What the fuck?"

"EEEEEP!"

Bella turns around and beholds the carnage. Her arms fall limp to her sides.

"What the fuck?"

"Sh-sh-she swore a cuss! Oh goodness, oh golly, aishya! Um. Er. Oh. C-could you n- I mean no it's ok ha ha ha ha please I just didn't you'd be so... weak? I mean no! Of course not! Believe me I'm the last girl on earth who's got room to say that to anybody! You just need practice! Unless you don't wanna? I mean I'm so so so sorry, I really thought I heard Princess but you tacked a lot of other stuff in there huh hahahaha I feel real dumb right now can we just--"

"No. I... what the fuck?!"

"YESSIR MA'AM SIR GIANT CAT LADY WHO COULD PUT ME ON A SHELF I BET I AGREE LET'S ALL HAVE BROWNIES AND LEARN ABOUT EACH OTHER WE MUST HAVE SO MANY OTHER WORDS TO TEACH EACH OTHER PROBABLY! I MEANT STUFF! THINGS! THAT DON'T SOUND LIKE... oh. Um. Do you guys need to do anything about those crabs?"

"Actia," said Cyanis in a trembling voice. "Why did none of them protect us?"
The two foxgirls slid another inch apart as the wreckage of the Plousios continued to collapse. Actia was still shaking, paws burnt blue with the aftershocks of her re-entry shield.
"Because that wasn't even a secret sword! Someone here had to be able to parry that!" said Cyanis, rapidly transmuting her terror into outrage.
"Maybe not," said Actia thoughtfully.
"What on Earth do you mean!?" said Cyanis, before hushing herself as though the aliens would demand a fare for them hitching a ride.
"Look at how many foxgirls there are," said Actia. "There must be a thousand. Outnumbered by the others of course, but that tracks - those aren't soldiers. This is a pleasure yacht, and everyone who isn't a foxgirl is part of a foxgirl harem."
"Oh," said Cyanis. "Well, that tracks, actually."
"Yeah. It's some sort of renfaire situation. They're even carrying Flux spikes," Actia said.
"What's a Fox Spike!??!?" said Cynais, no longer calming down.
"Flux. ELectromagnetic Flux. See those spikes they've all got? It's an old curse, before your time. Shoots lightning, blows up electronics, that kind of thing."
"Blows up - ACTIA WE JUST FOUGHT AN EVIL ROBOT IN SPACE DON'T YOU THINK WE COULD HAVE USED ONE OF THOSE."
"Believe me, it's not worth it. Unless you want your name on a Ministry of Curses list. Being sealed under a bridge is one thing, you do your time and get out. The Ministry won't be satisfied until you're tame."
"..."
"And not in a sexy way. I've checked."
"Then why didn't you get Fluffybiscuits to do it!?!?"
"Do you think you could get that girl to harbour a curse in her heart?"
"Unh! Why! Being that good a girl is just a list of things you're not doing and tails you're not getting! So why does that mean she's not helping me in my hour of need, and has more tails than she has any right to - knock it off with the pushups Actia, this is serious!"
"If I wasn't taking things seriously I would have stopped doing pushups long ago."
"Anyway, all those foxes are one-tails. How do they have human form if they don't have their second tails? Do they have illusions up?"
"Maybe they're humans cosplaying as foxes?"
"That is DEGENERATE."
"So maybe they're not the ruling class after all?"
"That is SLANDERING MY BRAND BY IMPLICATION."
"And several of them have decent sized chests, so -"
"That is UNACCEPTABLE. Everyone KNOWS that tail count and cup size is correlated, which is why my dysmorphia can only be cured by SUPREME FOXGIRL POWER. By having a range of body types along with fox tails, these people are CULTURALLY APPROPRIATING my tragic medical condition. For CLOUT, presumably. This is why nobody takes me seriously!"
"You are right," said Actia.
"Well, Yue looks like she'll be busy here for a while, let's sneak into her house and eat all of Fluffybiscuits' fox snacks," sniffed Cyanis. "That'll show her."
"That is a good plan," said Damn Fox. "Can I join you?"
"Of course," said Cyanis. "We'll split the treats 45-45-10. Actia and I are even partners, after all."
"Um," said Actia.
"Great!" said Damn Fox.
"Is that." said Actia. "Um."
"Oh, Fluffybiscuits might be there even if Yue isn't," Cyanis said. "Damn it. I forget that she's a badass sword fox meanie now. Can you distract her for us?"
"Sure!" said Damn Fox.
"Cyyyyyyyyyyyy-" Actia was saying.
"What?! Can't you see I'm trying to be a good sempai to our new frie -"
She glanced up. Only for a second. Cyanis might not have many marketable talents, but she could do this.
"- nd who we're lucky to be working alongside. There's so much we can learn from you, Mrs. Fox."
"What are you talking about?" said Damn Fox.
"Um. It's an, um, an honour -" said Actia.
"Honour!?" Damn Fox arched her back. An avalanche rumbled somewhere in the distance, the crack and slide of pine trees that grew alongside her back like fur. "Where!? Where?! Hss!"
"Oh no no I didn't mean -"
"No jokes," said Damn Fox. "This is serious. You've seen what happens if a fox catches Honour."
"See!?" said Cyanis. "Fox God agrees with me. She agrees with me that Fluffybiscuits sucks and didn't even have the honour to steal our tails dishonourably, like a true fox."
"Why is your friend doing pushups?" said Damn Fox.
"Sorry," said Actia. "Sorry, I just got so used to -"
"Don't care," Damn Fox adjusted. "What were we doing?"
"Stealing a Sunshard," said Cyanis, figuring she should upsell the mission a bit now they had divine assistance.
"Cy!" hissed Actia.
"What?" said Cyanis, fluttering her eyelashes innocently.
"That is a good plan," said Damn Fox. "I'm in!"

*

The Plousios!

A literal mountain - millions of tonnes of rock and stone and trees - has stood up and walked over to your spaceship as it sinks into the lake, ankle deep in the water. It has sniffed it and had a weirdly low volume conversation, and now it seems to be walking away. All of this is occurring in perfect silence and serenity and if you didn't turn your heads to look at it directly you wouldn't even know that it was happening.

Biomancy, for all of its power, is ultimately bound by things like the tensile strength of quadranix and air pressure vibrations and the laws of fucking physics. It is perhaps an unnecessary additional data point to consider given that your spaceship, rated for hiding out inside a literal star, was just cut in half by a slender girl, but things are different here.

1. We submit to the court's attention that Princess-Alpha Redana Claudius stepped in front of her wife when faced with a sudden attack from someone who seemed nice, if frazzled. We speculate that it is, in fact, because on the level of instinct, Redana still wants to be there for Bella, to protect her, despite all that they have been through together, despite the fact that Bella could pick up this frizzly-haired assailant and put her up on a shelf (high), despite her hope that she has reached the end of the quest.

2. We further submit that while Redana put her hand on her sword's hilt, she hesitated to draw. For a moment there, she hoped that maybe she was wrong. That she'd misunderstood something. That she'd turn around and, just like in her nightmares, the Master of Assassins would be standing there, only her head would be falling off and this swordswoman would click her sword back into her scabbard and, with eyes grown suddenly as hard as granite, say, "Tch. You're welcome."

3. We deny categorically that she has "forgotten her training" and "gotten soft," despite whispers to the contrary from Professional Associates A-H gathered in the area, who drew their weapons (five swords, a ceremonial labrys, a naginata and a weighted net) to back up their Princess-Alpha. We submit to the court that further speculation along this line of questioning would risk prejudicing the court and hampering the Princess-Alpha's divine mandate to carry the message across the universe at what is almost certainly the finish line.

3.5. If it turns out that the message was actually for someone on Tellus the entire time, we request that the court allow some time for yowling, crying, and kicking various cans and bottles into the lake. This allowance will not compromise Trip 2.0: I Don't Want To Lethe Again, Daddy, Make Us A Bridge Or Something, I'm Not Forgetting My Wife Again, Fuck.

4. We submit to the court that, as soon as the aggressor started sheathing her weapons, the Princess-Alpha relaxed and looked to Bella Hostilius Mosaic with a wry smile and a conciliatory release of Relief from her glands, before turning to address the assailant again. Please note that she did not let go of her sword's hilt, and the claim otherwise is defamatory.

5. We submit to the court that the part of Redana that had enjoyed working with the Hermetics and the ship crews as a part of a larger whole was the part that let out the shrill shriek when the Plousios - which, we note, was literally her comfort starship - fell into two pieces as a direct result of what we all presume was one of the assailant's cuts.

5.5. The assailant literally apologized and admitted that she had intended for her attack to be parried.

5.55. The Princess-Alpha could not have parried that.

5.555. Bella Hostilius Mosaic could totally have parried that, but chose not to do so.

5.5555. We theorize it was because her wife was acting in the name of Ceronian chivalry, which currently requires all the advocates it can get, given the political leanings of the current Shogun.

5.55555. It is honorable that the Princess-Alpha throw herself in front of threats, especially ones which she has no hope of overcoming or ones which are looking for a potential abduction victim, and we humbly submit the Bella Heart Hellscape Nightmare (Fuck You, Aphrodite) file for consideration in the matter.

6. We submit that the Princess-Alpha allowing her hand to go slack as she stood behind her wife and peered around her at devastation which not even a thunderbolt could equal was not rank cowardice but, in fact, a prudent acknowledgement that her weapon would not, in this case, suffice to defend her crew if the blushing, stammering girl before them (that is to say, behind them, as they were turned around at the time) were to suddenly throw out another attack of the same caliber.

7. We submit to the court that Redana took several deep breaths, hands held in front of her face, and let the shiver run from the base of her bushing tail up to her triangles before she shuffled back around and, wide-eyed, informed the assailant that, "We would love tea. Bella does the best tea in the whole universe."

7.5. The Princess-Alpha is willing to swear under oath that Pretty Kitty Meowmeow Sweet Tea is, in fact, still the best drink in the entire universe, and she is aware that it is just whatever tea Bella has brewed today, and she is also aware that the last time she asked for it Bella picked her up and carried her out of the room, but that will not stop her from suggesting it under her breath anyway, as a tactical concern, as plying the assailant with the best drink in the entire universe is just common sense, and the fact that her tail was wagging shows that, in fact, she is full of love and is not a "dumbass," Mrs. Mosaic Claudius.

8. Given all of the above, we request that the court give us a nice teatime where the Princess-Alpha receives headpats, explanations for what is going on here, immediate remedy for the damage to her literal comfort starship, and kissies from her wife for being brave in the face of starship-cleaving secret blades, to the fullest extent of the law, with extreme prejudice, and furthermore that her pack be barred from initiating leadership challenges at this critical juncture, given the extraordinary circumstances and the fact that she is so fucking close.

8.5. The Princess-Alpha also requires time for the thought she just had to unfold fully, the itch in the back of her thoughts to be scratched, and the feeling she feels when she watches the wind dance over the hills covered in grass and sunlight and sheeps with lace ribbons.

8.5.5. The Princess-Alpha disavows thinking about how cute Dolce would look in a lace ribbon, despite the undeniable fact that he would look absolutely precious, legally speaking, and maybe Vasilly is thinking the same thing? Maybe? Maybe if she makes eye contact with Vasilly she'll realize it all on her own, despite the fact that she's totally not thinking about that.

Don't look at it. Don't look at it, don't think about it, don't acknowledge it in any way, because if you don't look at it, don't think about it, don't acknowledge it, it doesn't exist. Everything is fine, actually! A golden day on Gaia, with nearly all of her friends, and everything is pretty, everything is golden, and if she doesn't look at the mountain fuck fuck fuck--

It's the galaxy's quietest panic attack as several paradigms shift like a teenager unused to working a clutch.

Think of bananas. Think of flamingoes! Think of literally anything else think it think it think it force it to exist in your head and focus on it and don't think about focus bad think it exist it and force it to not exist in--

"Yes! Teach!"

She's in the kid's face, wildeyed, and the words come strangled, like a cry for help trying to get out between throttling hands.

"You! Brownies, yes! Good thought, good time, yes let's sit down and chat and that was amazing and where did you learn to do that and can you please teach me--!"

-jingle jingle jingle-

Silver bells sing their song from Dolce’s curls, swaying gently from their strings.

There’s no breeze. No wind at all. The storm has passed through. All is quiet in its wake. Just a few little bells, singing gently, from a little sheep, swaying gently. Still upright, through smile and sword. Still upright, but don’t ask him how.

Dolce rips the paper from his notepad without a sound. Slow and steady. Along the line. Not a tear out of place. He folds it. Once. Twice. Thrice.

He pops it in his mouth. Munches without a trace of emotion.

Waste not and all that. Loose paperwork can cause all sorts of trouble.

“Vasilia? Could you pop over to one of the kitchens and fetch a few pots and pans? And perhaps some…food, of any kind? I think we may need some. Of those.”

“...mm? Oh. Yes. Yes of course, darling. I’ll just. Go and get those. And perhaps close some of the blast doors while I’m at it.”

“That seems wise.”

“Yes, it does, doesn’t it?”

“Right. Then, I’ll…over here?”

“Of course, of course.”

“Good.”

“Yes.”

Vasilia rises silently into the sky.

Dolce stays upright.

The bells sing on.

It is later now! Not a crazy amount later? But later enough for there to be tea, and brownies, and for everybody who needs it to do a little bit of calming down from all the freaking out about who cut what in half or who said what bad word or even really silly stuff like which mountain was secretly a nine-tailed fox in disguise.

And of course, Yue insisted on providing the tea and snacks herself. After that big whoopsie whuh whoah with the crystal boat-monster/monster-boat (which by the way these people are being super sweeties about, even though a lot of them are obviously pretty upset)? Well, let's just say this'd be a real quick crash course in discovering who the real monsters are if she made 'em cook their own food as guests.

So with apologies to any sheepboys who were looking forward to showing off their culliminary (?) arts, that's the story of how everybody in spite of everything wound up seated together around a big blue table with big blue chairs with steaming mugs of crystal clear steaming white tea and very very faded little plates with a brownie each on them, facing a slender girl in the blossom of her youth (we think?) as she awkwardly arranges all of her swords on an empty seat next to her and plays with her mess of soft brown hair to cover up the fact that she's not entirely sure how to start talking again.

"So. Um. Uh?"

Bella lifts a hand to cut her off. She still has one fluffy ear bent toward the space where not twenty minutes ago there had been a picturesque little mountain, as if by straining her thoughts on it she could listen in on the shouted conversation between foxgirls. But her golden eyes are locked on Yue, and every muscle in her body save that ear are tensed and ready for battle. She hasn't so much as touched her tea or her brownie, though she hasn't been able to keep herself from occasionally giving them an appreciative sniff.

"I want you to explain to me what the fuck,"

Yue whimpers.

"...Is happening," Bella continues over her, though through a wince now, "For starters, is this even Gaia? We did make it, right?"

"Uh," ums Yue, "Lemme check something real quick. Kay?"

And so saying, she pulls out a weird little pink and white rectangle and taps at it with her fingertip for a period of twenty to thirty-one seconds, give or take, before suddenly looking up with a very bright smile on her face.

"Yup! You're using a super duper old word for it? Like, I dunno if even the First Princess called it that but yeah! Yeppers! Welcome to Earth! You guys tourists, then? That's pretty funny. I kinda thought, especially after somethin' that happened a bit and a half ago, that anybody who came outta space was gonna be these, like, suuuuuuper spooky conquering monsters come to eat us. But you like brownies! You're, like, Burrower cosplayers? That's neato! I think I like you 'cause you've all got nice smiles. Well, except for you Ms. Catgirl."

"Bella."

"Oh, sorry! I mean I'm sure you have a very nice smile! You just haven't been usin' it. I'm super sorry about your boat. I promise though, ok? Before you're finished with your vacation I'm gonna figure out how to put it back together again. Oh! I bet Sis'd know! Yeah ok yeah! I'll call her in just a little bit and we'll get you all patched up! She's a Princess too y'know, and a whiz with machines! That's worth a smile, right? C'mon, don't let your tea get cold!"

Bella frowns more deeply than ever, but she does pick up her cup and take a long, slow sip. Her eyes widen in surprise. What she tastes reminds her of nothing so much as a certain floral wine she was once partial to a very, very long time ago. The flavor here is a little more subtle, but it's bright and full of tasting notes like a whole chorus of flowers, and the trees around them, and the grasses beneath them. It's also lighter than anything she's ever drank before, including water. Swallowing almost feels like being cleansed, not that that makes any sense.

Quickly, she takes a second sip. And then a gulp. And before she knows it, she's drained her whole cup. Yue just laughs and starts a new one steeping for her. Bella's cheeks flush with embarrassment.

"...You are royalty, then. That simplifies things a lot. We'll take tea with you, Highness, but--"

"Oh, haha, no. No, silly! I told you, didn't I? I'm just Yue. I'm not a Princess, I'm a sun farmer. Like, I thought about Princessin' for a bit? But the whole swords and adventures thing is really more of a hobby for me."

"You were disinherited, then?" Bella continues without slipping a beat, "I'm very sorry. We'll discuss it with your sister in that case. We just need someone with connections to your Empress."

"Huh?"

"Listen," says Bella as she pinches her nose between two claws, "We have come a very long way. Across the entire galaxy, in fact. And before we've got any time for leisure we need an audience with your Empress so we can deliver the message we were tasked with. Now. Can you get us an audience or can't you?"

"Ok see you keep using that word but like... I dunno how to say this? The only Empresses I've ever known are a) fictional and b) like, super, mega evil? 'Empress' is a word you put in stories so the kids know it's ok when she gets punched in the face, y'know? Like granted they tend to also make 'em kinda hot? So it's, I get bein' a fan and all but unless you know how to jump into a manga you're not gonna find any here."

"Your 'First Princess' then! Would you quit fucking around and- FOR GODS' SAKES KID WOULD YOU QUIT SQUEAKING! IT'S JUST A WORD, GROW UP!"

So hey! Hi! All you other peeps. Enjoying the brownies? I bet you are~! Here's what I think's worth knowing about your dessert while these two sillyheads sort a couple of minor differences out.

So, like, first of all? These things are so fudgey it should be illegal. They are denser than the core of a star. I mean not really? For one thing they're not hot and for another thing you can just eat 'em and for a third thing they are literally brownies? So they're soft right? But just soooooo packed with gooey chocolatey goodness that it doesn't feel like it's ok to be eating them, even though Yue insisted that it was. Well, if you believe in that sorta thing anyway. But I'm getting off track. The point is, if you're a fan of a more open and cakey brownie then I'm super sorry about that. But I'd bet you a tail that you're gonna be a convert by the time you're finished with this one.

'Cause the second thing is, that density is mostly carrying flavor. The chocolate is dark, but somehow it's also smooth and not even the teeniest bit bitter despite not being milky or overly sweet. It's enough that when you bite into the part where she's stuffed chili you're not even overwhelmed by the heat because it plays so well with the ooey gooey fudgey kablooey that's dancin' all over your tongue, even though the heat is so strong it nearly knocks Bella out of her seat when she finally gets un-mad enough to try eating hers. Poor thing, is she sensitive?

Well anyway, third thing is surprise! There's nuts in there too! And those provide just such a pleasant crunch that it probably awakens somethin' primal and real and huntery inside of you, just like it does for me! But it's also got a bit of a cooling effect, if that makes any sense? Like, a nut's just earthy right? So you can't taste earth and fire at the same time, unless you eat a volcano. Which is not the same thing as a lava cake! Even though they sound very similar!

Anyway the last thing you're gonna notice, fans of foreign food that you are, is that what you're eating is empty calories. And what I mean is, there's something you're not findin' in there, no matter how hard you look. Yue doesn't cook with heavy metals or highly processed industrial chemicals, see? And I know that's really strange for you! But it does something to the flavor to not use 'em, and you're maybe seeing for the first time how that might be true.

'Cause, like, to be clear? There's no nutritional value in here for you mighty biomantically engineered space cats. That's the slang term for cool people by the way, not Bella specifically. And it's an old term for sure, but you guys seem like you, well never mind. The point is, this brownie right? It should feel like nothing but empty air to you. But there's something about it, something very deeply magical, and it makes you feel full instead. And not just full, but content! So enjoy it, ok? I think Yue's just about got her talkin' feet back under here.

"Right, sorry, I didn't realize how far away you're from. I guess there's all kindsa different places and I shouldn't'a gone and assumed like that. Y'know they say when you assume that you... well anyway. This is a bit of a history lesson but maybe it'll clear some stuff up?

"So once upon a time, there were ten suns. And that's--"

"...The curse of Apollo!" Bella gasps and covers her mouth to keep from showing her clenched teeth.

"Er... sure? Well, that's too many suns. So all the people went underground, right? To beat the heat. And they built giant cities down there and basically ran things like normal. But eventually a brave and beautiful Princess was like, 'That's too many suns'. So she took up her bow and arrows and she shot them out of the sky."

Yue pauses for a moment and covers her ears, to allow for any catgirls present to use their choice of swear words. But maybe the idea of killing a star with an arrow doesn't sound weird to you guys anymore after watching a sillyhead kill your monster-boat/boat-monster? I dunno. Either way the moment passes to nothing but silence, and she lowers her hands again and moves on.

"You passed them on the way down, I'm sure. All those glowy chunks floatin' around the upper atmosphere? Yeah, suns. So she, pew, pew, pew! Crack! Sun Sounds! Aiyeee, probably, I dunno I wasn't there, and down they went. One, two, three, all the way up to nine! And the tenth sun, knowing what was good for it, up and set in a hurry. So the First Princess called it good and left things at that.

"But the Burrowers, right? They see the planet cooling down and come up to the surface for the first time in, like, ever. And they see this dry, blackened nothingburger of a planet and go, 'eh, pass'. So they took all of their stuff and they built these huge space elevators, and from there they built a bunch of ships and they sailed away, and as far as I'm aware they all died out there somewhere. Or maybe not? Did you see anybody like that while you were passin' through? Big, weird masks? Always commandin' demons? And talkin' about, like, finance and marketing or whatever? No? Oh well.

"So they leave, right? But that means they missed the rains. They missed the rivers startin' to flow again, the trees and the flowers growin' back, the skyfish flitting through the clouds... and of course, they missed the Sunshards. And whoever's got one of those gets to be a Princess, see?"

Yue pauses for a moment to pass around second cups of tea. This one is different, bein' a puh'er and all, and tastes kinda like dirt but in a really good way? It's weird but don't knock it. And to go along with that she opens up a bag and fishes out a bundle of little skewers stuck through blocks of crystalized sugar with fresh fruit in the middle. They are, unfortunately, strawberries and not shanzai like they oughta be but even so, though you don't and can't know this, you're holding in your hands now Yue's actual dessert specialty. Her favorite treat.

It means she really, like really likes you! I hope that comes through!

"And then yadda yadda yadda a whole buncha stuff happened but that's the important bit. So, like, the way it's structured is you've got Guards, right? And their job is to be kinda like a knight sorta deal? Getting in the way and harassing and kidnapping, but like, in a sexy way. And above them, kinda, you've got the Baronesses, who mostly are there to be pretty and convince everybody to engage in honorable sword duels and they're really good at that so it's a neato line of work. And then you've got handmaidens, then princesses,"

"And they're the ones in charge?"

"Then queens..."

"Oh, so we need to see the Queen, then."

"Oh, no, sorry, Queens are pretty much retired Princesses. They don't do much but everybody respects 'em. Some know a lot though, so Iono. Anyway after queens there's Countesses..."

"Countesses outrank Queens?" says Bella, now with her hands clenched on both of her temples.

"And then at the top there's Princesses!"

"But you already said!"

"No I said princesses. And now you understand why I got confused, right? Because it sounded like your girl said she was--"

"Princess Redana." Bella half snarls-half groans.

"See right no, but obviously not? 'Cause if she was a Princess she'd have blocked my-- w-well anyway like you said you're not from around here. It's my mistake. So sorry! You see how your choice of wording mighta been clearer?"

"Mmmgh. So there's nine pr--PRincesses, then."

"Uh, no just seven I think. Princess Qiu's got three sunshards 'cause she's kinda the best at swords. She was up to four for a little bit but she got fox heisted so I'm sure we're back at seven. Unless I'm bad at math, which is always possible."

"Is... is this 'Qiu' in charge, then?"

"Hm? No, I shouldn't think so. Like if the civil service told her to knock somethin' off she'd go and do it real quick. But she's a good girl so they don't fuss with her mostly. And that's all, like, food distribution and housing maintenance and work allocation stuff mostly, lotta boring decrees that keep everybody moving while the Princesses fight each other to see who gets to kiss whomst. Easy, right?"

"I," says Bella, "Need wine."

"Oh! Uh, sure. Well, um, j-just one more time so we're all crystal comfy cozy clear and all, I'm Yue! Just Yue, y'know? Some people call me the Demon Swordswoman, but please don't be one of them 'cause it's really embarrassing. But mostly what I do is farm sunshine! Which is good for all sortsa things but mostly people just use it to watch tv and... oh I'm ramblin' somethin' extra, aren't I?

"Uh, yeah. So you're... no don't tell me! princess alpha omega Redanny? Right? And you're... oh goshies, nobody's said your name, Big Snake Lady Who Wants Sword Lessons. And you over there? Sheepy? Sheepy McLionKissies? Help me out! Why don't you guys tell me what you're all about? I'd love to help you deliver your message if I can! Consider it an apology for the whole, uh, misunderstanding with the lake earlier!"

Once upon a time there was a city which was also a planet, alone in the sky. So many people lived here that they crammed themselves into houses as big as this room, and stacked these houses on top of each other, and they still decided that they needed people who would take care of them. So they made Servitors, people woven into purpose from before they were even born. And the ruler of all these people was - is - a woman named Nero. She is their Empress.

She is immortal, but she still decided she needed a child in case anything happened to her. She was the baby's mother, and the baby's father - or, well, other mother - was Zeus, King of the Gods, the Thunderer, beautiful and powerful. And to make sure her baby was safe, she had a palace built just for her. You could have had fifty houses instead of that palace! But she needed a space which was big, and secure, and allowed her baby to run around when she got big enough.

Her daughter - a princess - grew up studying military history and political theory and mathematics and applied theology and economics, and she wasn't good at it. At any of it, really, except for the theology. So to encourage her daughter, the Empress promised her a Servitor of her very own to be her maid, who was named Bella. And they grew up together, and even though they knew they weren't allowed to fall in love, they did anyway, and they both kept it a secret from the other.

The princess loved her maid, and she wanted to be free and find the stars, and she wanted people to be able to live in houses that weren't little boxes stacked on top of each other (because she'd snuck out with her maid to see how her people lived). So with the blessing of her father, she stole one of her guardians, a great big four-armed statue named Alexa, and she stole a ship, and she launched it into orbit. She had to leave her maid behind because Bella was frightened for her and threatened to tell her mommy- the Empress. That is.

And when she did this, Hades - the lord of the dead, the keeper of vaults, the last king - showed up on her ship and told her that if she took a message from him to Ancient Gaia, her wish would be granted.

Along the way, the princess ran into a crew of pirates, and Alexa threatened to beat them all up, but it turned out that two of them, Vasilia and Dolce, were so moved by her story that they decided to come along with her and Alexa. They traveled across the stars, pursued by Bella in her very own ship, and... well, lots of things happened. They found a city inside a giant turtle and a planet where Dionysus ruled robots in madness. They found a shipwrecked fleet and a kingdom full of snakes - but not this snake. She comes later. On the other side of the river.

On the desert world of Sahar they fought against Bella's evil stepmother, who was the Master of Assassins - who had trained Bella - and the princess and Bella, together again, managed to defeat her. It was very difficult. It was one of the scariest things to ever happen to the princess, fighting there. But they won. And after that they came to the very end of the world, the House of Hades - and they discovered that they had been in the underworld the whole time. The princess was just a princess of the dead. All her people, the last humans, their empire fell and was consumed and was damned, the whole time.

To get here, to the land of the living, they had to cross the Lethe, which is a river which eats memories. When the princess and Bella made it to the other side - and Alexa didn't come, she stayed behind, so many of their friends stayed behind, but Dolce and Vasilia refused to stay - they didn't remember each other. Not with their memories. But their hearts still remembered, and they fell in love again, not as princess and maid but as a knight and a demigoddess.

They continued on. And, eventually, they regained their memories. They got married. And they kept coming, with the Silver Divers who the princess led, with the brilliant Azura snake-woman Dyssia, with the people of Bitemark and Bella's assassin-sisters and the Tides of Poseidon who we could never get out of the flooded sectors of our ship.

And now they're here. Because Hades told the princess that if she brought a message to Ancient Gaia, she and her companions would be able to make a Wish.

"So let me introduce myself again. I'm Redana Honorius Claudius. I'm the daughter of the Empress Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Tellurian of Ecumenopolis, and I'm the alpha of the Ceronian hunting-clan known as the Silver Divers, who worship Poseidon, and most importantly, I'm Bella's wife. I can fight, but I can't fight like you can. I don't think anyone I've ever met can fight like you, though Bella comes really close. And we're here, all of us, here, because we're carrying a message, and because we've all got a Wish. Though the funny thing is, the really funny thing is, I think just being here is going to fulfill my most recent Wish. This whole time I was trying to make it so that I could go back home and save everyone, but I've figured out how I'm going to do that, and who I'm going to be when I do that, and now I think I know how I'm going to become her. But... I'm sorry, that's a lot, isn't it? You can call me Dany if you like. <3"

Somewhere far, far away from here, past the river Lethe, there stands a Manor.

The story would start that way. He’s quite sure of that. No one here was there.

“My name is Dolce. The very same that Redana mentioned.” From his perch on his wife’s lap, Dolce gives a bow of the head to his hostess. “Chef, and more recently, logistics officer. I manage the kitchens and the paperwork.”

The chef was so unhappy, he begged a goddess to tell him what was wrong with him.

“Pirate as well, darling.”

“Hrm. I mostly recall being a chef there too.”

“Which most polite society would call aiding and abetting.” Vasilia squeeze him from behind, arm wrapped possessively around his waist. “I’m afraid you’re just as wanted as the rest of us.”

He saw someone eating his meals for the first time. He replayed the memory so much he couldn’t sleep.

“Pirate by technicality, then. Though that was quite a while ago.”

He couldn’t stay any longer. He couldn’t stay anywhere. He had to know.

Odd. The day was peaceful. The terrain familiar to their hostess. The food was delicious and the tea refreshing.

Where was Hestia?

They were under hospitality. They were on the cusp of completing a great and perilous quest. Redana was on the cusp of completing a great and perilous quest.

Where was Zeus?

They had landed on Gaia.

Where was Demeter?

He had to know.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Yue. The brownies and tea were excellent.”

He had to know.

"My gosh thethe brownieth are incredible."

Dyssia grins up over crumbs spilled on a diagram of--of probably how this works? Guards and princesses and Princesses who aren't princesses and--

She swallows hard and--oooh, the afterburn of the chili is amazing--

"I'm the Dissident Knight!"

She purses her lips, listening to how the name sounds in the air of the small cottage.

"Which, you know, I've been thinking about calling myself that for a while now? And like, it's a good name, works with my name, and I've been worrying it's a bit pretentious? And it's not like you know what a Knight is, and I'm not sure I'd be able to place it on this diagram, like maybe somewhere between a baroness and a guard? And anyway, you don't actually get to pick your own name, right, because it's what you get famous for and what people call you and you could try to influence what people call you through, you know, introducing yourself like that and hoping it sticks, but I'm betting my political capital is too low right now to try to pull that out in polite society, and--

"Start over. Dyssia! I'm Dyssia, these are my foxgirls, and I'm a busybody! A meddler, a know-it-all, a malcontent, and I'm trying to help as many people as I can to escape from an empire that's bad for them!

"… huh. The pix kidnapped me, way back when. Would that make them my Guards?"

"I mean, I've read stories! About knights and stuff that is. I went to school, y'know? Ok well I was homeschooled but Sis brought all the books from not home school and she did a great job with me after... anyway did you know I was a knight? Briefly? And then a wolf! Slightly less briefly! But ok well not a knight as I cosplayed one so I could get kidnapped by a dragon. Princess! A Princess dragon. I assume you've got... no? Back where you're from? Huh. Well, goshies."

Yue laughs, even though nobody else does, and busies herself for several quiet minutes making little tippy taps on her weird rectangle, which cannot possibly serve any purpose. She's very polite about it, though! Which is to say she makes extra careful special sure to glance up about once every twenty seconds or so to make sure everybody's got a conversation partner and enough tea and snacks to last the moment, though she's running out of both of what she thought to bring today.

She purses her lips for a second, and gives this table full of new friends a sad look. For just the briefest of moments, mind you!

"Well, dang it. I was just talkin' to Sis and she said she's not available to come look at your boat for a hot minute. I totally forgot, this is such a bummer! See there was this, uh, lil' spot of trouble at a shrine about a week or so's hike up thataway? We used to have this big old metal giant plugged into it but this and that happened and whoosh, plowey! Kerblammo! It went and blew up. So a friend of mine, unfortunately no longer with us, she plugged her giant evil death machine into the spot where it had been but without her around anymore to juice it that didn't stick. So Sis, uh, her name's....... Xiu. Well I should call her Princess Kikill right now but anyway Sis' big thing is buildin' castles and towns so she's hangin' out down there until some better infrastructure builds itself back into the area so that... I guess you don't need the details, huh? Anyway it's gonna be like a month or so before she'll be back home?"

"A month?!" says Bella.

"Yeah. Sorry, Bells."

"Bella."

"Oh, is that a no go? Dang it. You've just all got these real hard to pronounce big city type names so I was hopin' I could--"

"My name is Bella Hostilius Tredecima Mosaic. And I've fought hard for every piece of it, so I would appreciate it if you said it properly."

"Sure thing. Uh. Belluh? Did I get it? Beller?"

Bella's gaze falls down to her teacup. She is surprised to find it filled again. She takes a sip and finishes with a very loud sigh.

"Actually, do you know what? 'Bells' is fine."

"Yay! I knew we were friends! So that leaves... hokay, here I go. Dany."

She points. Bella gives a nod.

"Nice. And you two are married. That's so sweet, I love height play! I mean, congratulations! And then there's Dol... Dull..."

She points again, snapping her fingers and willing this fiendishly complex name to her lips.

"Dolsee? Dollshay? Ah jeez. What about Dolchef? Would that be ok? All right and you're... Vasilly. Yeah that one's real easy. And you two are married, too! Oh goshies wow it's a whole love boat thing, huh? That's so neat!

Yue blushes. Something about this arrangement seems to intimidate her a little bit.

"Which leaves My Lady Dissident Knight, the Guardoness. Dyssie? And you're not married, but... oh. Oh! Ohhhhh! Fox Harem. Ok, ok, ok! Got it! It's so nice to meet all of you!"

She grins, not just from ear to ear but all the way down to the very bottom-most reaches of her heart. And it is a very special kind of magic indeed at play here, if a woman like this who not so long ago was threatening you with swords and who still hasn't managed to say a single one of your names correctly and who's only known you for an hour or so can look at you and really for actually call you her friends.

And for you to believe that she means it, too. Because you do. Not to put words in your hearts but I can tell. And it's true that there's no Hestia wavin' at any of you from across the table. Zeus doesn't offer you a proud nod. Demeter doesn't threaten to stab you, and Aprhodite's screams are nowhere to be heard. There's everything of divinity in this moment and in this green and blue and glittering world all around you, but there are no gods that you can see.

I'm not gonna tell you what a friend told me 'cause I don't think you're ready to hear it. But even if she's wrong, I'll say this instead: if you think about it, it's not so strange that you can't hear their voices. Bella keeps sniffing the air, deep and very unsubtle whiffs in Yue's direction, and all she gets for her trouble are stiff ears and a blushy complexion. Because there's no scent of deception in the air. No transactionality, no ulterior motives. There's nothing like that going on at all. Which means, well, couldn't it just? If there's nothing to ask a god for, do you need to hear their voice? If they don't have anything to teach, do they need to speak in the first place?"

"Well, ok! My girlfriend is swingin' by for- y'know I've been meanin' to propose to her for years now? But I said to myself, right from the start after she turned back into a girl from bein' a wolf and then I turned back into a girl from bein' a wolf instead of her, I said 'if I'm gonna do it I've gotta beat her in a duel first'. It just makes sense, right? It's romantic! But I haven't managed yet. I'll get her, though! The problem is there's this one move I really wanna finish the fight with but it's sooooooo telegraphed and right when I go for it just, whoops! Haha! Y'know? But she's been so patient. Hyra's great. You're gonna love her!

"Whiiiiiich, haha! Segue! So here's my deal for you. If you want it. My house isn't the biggest, but if I move my table I've got space to roll out the extra futons. And if, y'know, if you don't mind, while we're figurin' out your whole message dealie and findin' whoever it is you need to deliver it to, consider yourselves at home. Ok? I'll give you the grand tour of this whole area if you want, and any other places you're curious about. I may not look like it, but I've been all over the world! All the way to Ys, and even the Sky Castle! I figure if we've got at least a month before you guys can take off again we should just call it a vacation. Yeah? Sound nice? Guys?"

Bella takes one more deep breath. And for the first time since landing, she relaxes.

"I don't presume to speak for anybody else, but I accept. Thank you for your hospitality... Demon Swordswoman."

Yue squeaks somethin' fierce and hides her face among her bags as she begins to pack up her little tea party, just all the bits that everybody's done with. Bella's grin is full of teeth. Her laugh is sharp, so sharp it sounds wrong against the air you're breathing, but then again, is there maybe a little bit that fits in?

"I. Um. Er. Ah. O-ok! Yeah! Th-thank you! I promise it's gonna be a blast! Mhm, well--"

Yue's weird rectangle suddenly erupts in song. A quiet, vaguely trebley, high tempo techno bop with a lot of words about the beauty of the moon under a clear sky. She scrambles to fish it back out of her pocket and taps it with her thumb, silencing it in a hurry.

"Oh! It looks like the west hill's ready for harvest? Do you guys mind if I...? Um? Is, uh, is something wrong?"

Wide-eyed, Bella slowly turns her head to look at Redana. Her mind is filled with memories, of a carnival and a movie theater and painting after painting after painting that played just this sort of music, with the liquid crystal paint that blended together to make moving images without a crank to wind it. She is remembering the Tunguska. But that's, surely that's impossible?

"Dany, you don't think...?"

There are all sorts of things to do at the Terraced Lake. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise, because they’d be lying, or they just didn’t know any better, and either of those are good reasons not to take their word for it. Do you know how many people live there? It’s nowhere near as many as in the cities, but it’s lots. Plenty enough. No need to put a number to it. And anyway, every one of those people? They do at least one thing a day. Oftentimes more! Now there is the possibility that some people are doing the same thing, but there can’t be that many of them.

Dolce - sometimes known as Dolcef - does some of these things, for a little bit. He watches the sunrise. He cooks. He strolls. He swims. He dries off in the afternoon sun. This and that, for a little bit.

And then he leaves.

Politely, mind you! He gives every gratitude to Yue. He promises he’ll be back. He hopes she doesn’t think herself a poor hostess. (He suspects she might anyway.) But he doesn’t say why. Not really.

He’s going to see the civil service.

He will not, cannot, do a thing until he does.

And if anyone wishes to travel with him?

Well! He won’t refuse the company.

Folks around the Terraced Lake will talk. Naturally! That's one of the simple pleasures of life on Gaia Earth. They share information. They provide their own opinions. The "phones" they have connect them across incredible distances - you can call someone on the other side of the planet, if you don't mind waking them up in the middle of the night. So perhaps it's not too much a stretch to imagine that one of these topics of conversation, besides the very big thing that dropped out of the sky (asteroid? bit of space elevator gantry? A Foxgirl Scheme?), is the people who have shown up and have made a campground.

Specifically, tongues might wag about Big Bella and Danny.

Because, right, hear me out: Big Bella's a lot of woman. She's got a mouth on her that could turn milk blue, but she's tall, curvy, and proud: exactly the right blend to give her fangirls. And not to put too fine a point on it, but her wife's tiny in comparison. Earth's not really the sort of place for this to get too out of hand, but folks might be wondering: what does a bombshell like Big Bella see in a pipsqueak like Danny?

Well. Eventually talk might start circulating. See, Danny likes taking runs in the mornings. She runs like she's trying to catch up with the sun as it rises. She runs like she doesn't know what grass is. She runs until she finds something worth pulling out her sketchbook for, and she'll wander around anywhere she finds interesting - doesn't matter if it's a little shrine or a Burrower ruin, she'll duck into either and look around with her green-and-blue and get this big smile on her face as she wanders about.

Then she'll end up back at Yue's place for a late breakfast, and you might catch Big Bella watching out the window as her Danny trots up, all sweaty and beaming like the sun (though if you asked her, Big Bella would tell you, firmly, that Redana's smile is nothing like that fucking asshole, like the sun stole forty cakes from her or something), and then she grabs a bucket and trots right down to the river to dump it over her head and then shake shake shake like she's trying to make a swamp.

And if you saw Danny there, amber-yellow hair clinging to her forehead, eyes closed, top clinging to her delts, bag hucked over a branch, a hop and a skip away from true and proper peace, you might realize that Bella lucked out.

---

"...and this Handmaiden was just trying to talk this horror of the underworld into submission, and every time she blocked one of its new limbs, I could feel the blow in the ground. But she refused to hit it back, she just tried to hold it fast while it kept taking new shapes, like, like, um, that one king who could change shapes and was a seal originally? Procrustes[1]?" This is met with a serious nod from Yue, who is letting her breakfast get cold as she drinks this in with, well, seriousness.

"So I jumped in! All while it was wrapping her up in its tentacles! But she wouldn't let go, and I showed it how the Silver Divers fight things with too many tentacles!" It's not too hard to imagine her as an exorcist's assistant, is it? A two-fisted heroine who saves the damsel in distress. Yes, that's definitely the image she'd convey.

"But it turns out, when we eventually caught it, she called him her brother and said that he had caught and betrayed her a very long time ago, but she was just trying to stop him from carrying out his old duties, which were - well, you wouldn't believe it, but - he'd imprisoned a lot of people in that Burrower Den, and she had to hold him fast while someone set them all free. So that was me!" She brushes hair out of her face, and then memory strikes her.

"And she told me to tell you, Yue, that Rosepetal says hello, and that she's doing very well!" She grins, delighted to have made a friend of a friend's friend. "But afterwards, she talked with him - it was all growls and clicks and humming - and she let him go. What do you make of that? All that fighting, against a brother who was seriously trying to hurt her, who kidnapped that many people, and she let him crawl away? I would have expected her to, I don't know, have some way to stop him..."

---

[1]: Proteus. A swing and a miss, Dany.

You know, it's strange? Normally, from somewhere high up, you…

Words aren't the right medium, right? She doesn't want to say "feel powerful," because that's not actually the feeling. Awestruck is close, but… Observant, maybe? Observant, asterisk? Like you can see the whole picture, take it in piecemeal. Render the whole of the human experience, of all the intricacies of market and home down to ants on a playing board, that can be followed by an interested observer a thousand feet above.

She dangles off a spar, midway up one of the background orbital elevators, and wonders what she's doing here.

Well, you know, beyond the obvious of indulging a whim felt while touching down of "I wanna climb that?" Feeling a pleasant tightness of muscle in the core and arms? Feeling a bit cold and thin of breath, maybe, up in what is still technically atmosphere?

The borrowed phone chirps in her pocket, and she sighs.

Right.

She pulls it out, and marvels again at it. So small, but holding so much. And so, so fragile--capable of being destroyed if anyone, anywhere decides that it's too much.

And survive it has, here, for two hundred years. Survived, in a world where, according to the residents of the Terraced Lake, the… burrowers? Old people? Had left behind demons, geists, spirits of the old world. Spirits that--

See, it's not that they don't know about ELFs, right? They understand the curse of Zeus, laid against the old kind of computer intelligences, laid against the people until they can become--

She dangles by her tail, arms above her head, contemplating the upside-down world above her.

She could live here, you know. Couldn't she?

Here, alone in the cosmos, are the right kind of people, which as any revolutionary knows are much harder to find than the right kind of government.

… Is she the right kind of people?

Is she the kind of person who could… Who could leave well enough alone? Who could…

The words "tuck her head in the sand" taste like acid in her throat.

Could she just… abandon the crusade, feels like appropriate phrasing? Find a place that makes her happy, and say "this is enough for me?" It's burned inside her for so long--pushing her forward and on and through every obstacle, regardless of who gets hurt as a result, and stopping before the job is done feels--

Well, it feels hollow. Like the fire has burned her empty, and left her alone in the hole of unfulfilled purpose. She's said so long that she's doing this to help others, right? If she stopped, she'd…

What had it all been for, if she stops now?

Her phone--well, not her phone, but the phone she's using--chirps again, and she fumbles to check the text without gravity snatching it up and away from her.

Small meeting of friends, by the lake. Hmm.

She dangles still, for a few moments, considering.

It's not the same purpose. Not really. But it's… It's a warmth, if that makes sense. Something to swim towards and wrap herself around.

She unwraps herself from the spar, and drops towards the lake below.

She won't know until she sits in it for a while, but… It might be enough, after all.

It is ok to wonder.

And it is ok to worry.

And it is ok to wander.

And it is ok to w- um. To... uh? To w'experiment. It's French or something. Shut up!

It's ok, ok? That's the point I'm getting at. Whatever it is you're doing, whatever it is you need, that's fine. It isn't a problem. This is somewhere that's permitted. Time will flow as it always does and (if you let it) your heart will heal. If it needs to. Or it might grow. If it wants to. Or maybe nothing will change at all. That's not really a big deal either; you're here.

You're welcome.

Dyssia, the phone you're borrowing belongs to one Squire Tianic. She's a girl like a lot like Yue and a lot not like Yue at all, someone with wholly different aesthetics and sensibilities and a completely different build and face who nevertheless feels like she might be sort of long lost twin when the pair of them stand together. It's the girlishness that does it. That, like, sense that she's on the cusp of transforming into something but either hasn't quite gotten there or is choosing to stay exactly where she is. She's not really from 'round here, but ''round here''s kinda a relative term when you live in a big flying castle.

Do you think that part is weird, by the way? I guess you must not. What part do you think is weird? Anyway she's not in a rush to get that back: she's got a workshop she's attending this week and she finds the screen a distraction. So don't worry about it. And anyway anyway what's more important is that Tianic's chic and trendy - for a given definition of those things - so the phone you're holding is just about the coolest thing ever.

And I know what you're thinking! You're thinking, hey! This phone cover isn't three wolves howling at the moon at all! And you're right: it's not! It's way cooler than that! You're holding the machine-printed perfection of a dragongirl idol with a sassy, sinful smile that's somehow just for you even though it's not really for anyone at all. Her hair is pink and lovely and her horns are curling and purple and lovelier, and her eyes, even in phone case form her eyes just make you wish she'd reach out and grab your heart for realsies. She's been all the rage for a little while now, ever since her hit song got blasted across the entire earth for a solid thirty minutes. What can I say? If she loves you, you love her more.

It's not important. I just wanted you to know. It can be enough, y'know? Just existing. You don't have to be the one who changes everything to be the one who changes everything. Take the woman just over yonder. The one who looks like she's shining in the dark even though it's the middle of the day and the sun frankly couldn't get a single lumen brighter if it wanted to. She's prowlin' up and down a line of dancers, beautiful but... well like I said, prowlin'. There's nothing of contentment in her posture, and everything of yelling a whole buncha bunches in the way her arms are flailin'.

She's a little far away for you to make out what she's saying (or maybe she's not? I dunno, you tell me what you hear) but it's obvious to even the littlest dummy that it's heated. Nobody really looks at her when she does it. Nobody stops dancing. But her arms go still, and her voice goes silent, and her body goes ker-lean against a tree, and when it does like magic the choreography becomes more intricate as if she'd cast a spell on the whole lot of them. They're not just a line anymore: they shift and weave between each other and there's a sense of animistic power to the whole lineup. And even though nothing she did had any effect, you know it's her fault they all got better.

Her name's Yin, if you care. Usedtawas Princess Yin, but that doesn't matter anymore. She's been thinking about a change of career for a long, long time. There's mountains and rivers and valleys and big city markets between her and happiness, but all the same. The Department of Curses is gonna have a lot of use for her, someday.

Elsewise, there's not a whole ton going on.

Yue's been showing off the finer points of Sun Farming. Once upon a time when she was just figuring out the craft, it was an art of careful drawing of special seals and setting little glass beads in them, and then hunting down a patch of sunshine with just the right properties and jarring it for later use. What use was that? She had no idea! But it's different now. She's had time to practice.

Now when she wants to farm sunlight, she borrows a flock of sheeps from a neighbor and watches over them for a week or three. She ties her little beads all into their wool so that they glitter with rainbow sparkles like they belong in some far off fairyland where all the girls wear silks and dance in the rain. That doesn't need to make sense, it's just what pops into your head when you look at them. But she tends the flock, and the flock wanders. The beads gather sunlight and the grass and the herbs and the weeds all grow in response. The sheeps eat their fill and Yue gets to swoop in for extras as they go, which she usually dries out and hands out to people when she's got the time for it. And the nice thing about it is that just by letting this happen, the flock naturally seeks out all the kindest, warmest sunlight. It's so pure and lovely you can even power electronics with it for a little while. Which is nice if you're out in the field and still want to watch anime.

It's slow work. And it's not all that rewarding, in most senses of the word. But Yue's quiet when she goes about it, and there's a cute little smile that steals its way across her lips that's all girl and no Demon Swordswoman at all. Even though, the whole time, she's carrying at least three different blades with her. Usually more if it doesn't scare the flock.

But just now she's listening to Redana's story and nodding in all the right parts. Her dumplings are getting cold and her tea is getting bitter and neither of those things matter against the name 'Rosepetal'. She smiles and claps (twice) with delight. And then she nods, and there's wisdom in her eyes when she opens her mouth.

"Well I mean... she won right? Everyone's out of that place that got caught in it. I'd say she pretty much stopped him. Y'know? And if he parted ways without attacking her again then he gets that, too. What more's she supposed to do? Lock him up? She'd never, not my Rosie!"

And she laughs, which is to say she giggles, which is to say she curls into a ball and almost tips out of her chair, the idea's so funny to her.

And Bella? Bella doesn't say much. She's been doing a lot of that, lately. For a bit she got into arguments at the drop of a hat, but even though nobody was keeping score she kept coming away from them with this awful sense that she'd been the loser. And over time that started shutting her mouth instead of trying to make some criticism or cutting point. And then she went still. She ate more, and started taking naps in the grass. One time she pet a cat, and that was... well, I don't really have time to get into what an experience that was for her.

Well, except. This time? Something about the story twigs something in her. And she leans across the table. And her body is tense. Her eyes are golden and gleaming when they look into Yue's soft blue ones. Her muscles are tenser than steel wires, and her claws dig grooves into Yue's very nice dinner table.

"No. That's bull--" she sucks a breath in through her teeth and flinches, "That's nonsense. You don't believe that, and this other woman's an idiot if she does. You've done a lot to try and make it seem like everything is soft and fluffy here but there is no way that anybody's--"

"Hmmmmmm~" hms Yue (hmmily), "Know what I think you need? A good fight."

"I... what?"

"Yeah! You're itchy and nervous and you've got nothin' to take that out on stuck in here. I thought you needed rest at first, but IIIIIIIIII think you really need a good fight! So how about it? Wanna take me on?"

"There's... what the fff... you're joking again, right? I would kill you."

"Mm. No you wouldn't~"

"Just because you know a magic trick that cuts a ship in half doesn't mean that I can't--"

And that thought never finishes, because Yue has grabbed each of the two of you by the hand. She tugs (very gently, just a suggestion) toward the door.

"No, c'mon! Let's go for a walk, and then you and I'll have a fight tonight. There's a place I wanna show you. I think this whole thing's gonna make a lot more sense to you when you see it."

*******

Dolce, of course, has no idea where the civil service is headquartered. Or, well, where a local branch is at any rate. I don't really know what he's looking for, or why he wants to find it. So I can't say if he'll be successful or not, or if this whole trip just puts a lotta kilometers on his feet and slims down that round, fluffy butt of his. Not that he needs that! I'm not butt shaming, just so we're clear. It's a very nice butt. Everyone who's seen it says so! But it's just...

Oh, right. You're wondering what he does find, if it's not a government office. Well, I'll tell you. He! Finds! A!

Beautiful, slender foxgirl. A willowy figure in delicious minty green with silky, floofy hair and even silkier, floofier tails. Four of 'em! And when I say he "finds" her, what I mean is that he is poumced upon! Nyahaha! This is a fox heist, sucker!

"You have just been heisted, sir!" says the Heroine, "By Katherine Isabella Fluffybiscuits! Esquire! My card."

She (don't spoil it) hands him a leaf. Which is not a card, but a distraction, which she uses to tie him up. Not uncomfortably tight, but just the way that Hyra taught her to, so that there's lots of room to wiggle and even to talk back! It makes it more fun. Plus, this guy's gotta understand what's goin' on. Right?

"I dunno what your story is, sir, but I know what mine is! I! Am stuck! Doing community service! Because I kinda sorta maybe a little bit almost doomed the world? I dunno how Cy and Actie get off without so much as a slap on the wrist when the whole thing was-- huh, where are they, anyway? I woulda sworn one or both of 'em'd be out for Cutie Justice by now. Anyway the point is I'm in big, big trouble.

"But you! Are my ticket out of that trouble! I've heisted you fair and square so you have to do what I say. That's Fox Law, probably. And you're gonna cooperate, right? You're gonna act like you were lost and I found you! Which is totally true by the way. And you're gonna follow me to the local magistrate's office and tell them how I saved you! From... oh gosh I dunno, monsters? No wait, monsters aren't real. Giant crabs? No no no, that's played out. Oh, demons! There's lots of those! So yeah. I saved you from river demons and I'm a hero and stuff. And also you wanted to go see the government building and get a tour and stuff and I'm your escort 'cause I'm a super duper good girl - make sure you include that ok???? Super Duper Good Girl. Don't you dare forget the duper! The duper is everything here! This whole scheme won't work without it."

Katherine Isabella Fluffybiscuits, Katherine for short, grins and does a giddy yip as she smells freedom in the air.

"And once they realize how true that is they'll commute my sentence and I won't have to go to Cutie Fox Island and I'll get to stay with mom aga-- I mean Y-Yueeeeeeeeeh no go back go back go back I mean mom! My mom, all right? To you she's my mom. I get to go back to her and she and I are gonna go on adventures like she promised me and everything is happy and good forever and nobody needs to say anything about who corrupted which sunshard or who stuck whose tails onto whose's butt and... come to think of it, where's Damn Fox? The horizon looks less mountainy than it... hm. Uh oh.

"Ok buddy, we're on a clock now! You don't mind, right? No, why would you? Then I'm just gonna carry ya! Off we go, to the root of all evil: the County Clerk!"

She is kidding. That's a Fox Joke. About carrying him, I mean. Katherine, Kat for short, is many types of good girl but she is at the end of the day still a foxgirl. She can no more perform manual labor than she could unfloof her fluff. In fact, about an hour into the walk she has somehow managed her way up onto Dolce's shoulders.

But, I hasten to add, she is very good at pointing. And always in the right direction, too! It won't be long now before he's caught sight of the answers he's looking for. At least, if they're anywhere to be found in the first place.

Dolce!

You are bought in bondage before the Supreme Ruler of Earth.

It is a terrifying experience. Not for the power she wields, though it is absolute. Not for the cruelty of which she is capable, though it is vast. What is terrifying about her more than anything else is that some day in the not too distant future she is going to die and then someone else is going to have to step up to do what she does. And you feel, as her gaze bores into your soul, the horrifying feeling that it might be you. You would be good at it. But more importantly, you would not be able to leave it alone.

And that is the only reason why someone would come here. This is not a place of glory or privilege. There is wood rot in the walls and the footprints of demons on the floor and the windows rattle with each gust of wind. There is no treasury of gold and jewels, no fine art or badges of station, no swords or legacy of military glory. Apollo gave Lycurgus his iron laws to build the nation of Sparta; these were imposed upon the poor, while the rich were spared. So Sparta went the way of all nations, and all nations went the way of Sparta. It was only in the cleansing rains and the shattered ruins of nine suns, when the Earth inverted and all the low became high, did those with courage and vision have the chance to do what Snowball and Napoleon never could: They burned the farmer's house. They took the gold and cushions from the throne. They forged an iron crown so heavy it would bend the neck of any who bore it. And then, stripped of all gilt and ornament, they gave their pauper kings power more absolute than any constitution would dare.

In this Omelas, the king steps willingly into the forsaken pit.

The ancients knew this too. It took the spilled blood of the summer king to safeguard the green and pleasant land. The Fisher King's malady cursed his land; how might he have reigned if his land's malady cursed him?

There are many Supreme Rulers such as this nameless old woman, the base of a vast inverted pyramid. They have power to demand any sacrifice, to abridge any right, to say 'get it done!' and have it be done no matter the cost and the consequence. Their only checks are the curses: any evil which endures under their domains is inflicted on them by the Ministry of Curses; any hatred the people have for their world or society is placed upon them in full.

As that understanding soaks in, the fact that this woman sits with unmarked skin, in a house of her own with four walls and a roof, with food and medicine in the pantry and clothes for every season - it is the realization that she has built this house in the heart of Hell itself, and not one among the abyssal host begrudges it of her.

And then, to demonstrate the terrible immensity of her virtue, she pours you a cup of tea.