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 [i]feels[/i] 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 [i]Plousios[/i] 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 [i]now![/i] 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 [i]all?[/i] 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 [i]is[/i] 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 [i]Plousios[/i] 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 [i]fuck?[/i]"

"Sh-sh-she swore a cuss! Oh goodness, oh golly, aish[i]ya![/i] 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?"