ayzrules

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

yo @WilsonTurner @NarcissisticPotato do you guys mind if I get in on this collab thingy? I don't mean to intrude or anything but i just feel like it might be easier

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

@NarcissisticPotato Shut up, Tater, (well, and Cara, by extension) photosynthetic organelles don't have opinions! :P

@RomanAria

what's ironic is that I'm currently studying for my bio midterm and there's stuff about chloroplasts on there

thylakoid membranes and photosystems, amirite? ;)

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

she'd be a third wheel two times over b/c cara+zhou and mai+niklas omg poor girl ^^^

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

Mai Mei of Liang

Mai laughed softly at Zhou's remark about acupuncture. "I'm older than you," she reminded him in a lightly teasing voice. A minute later, a small girl with brown hair accompanied by her maidservant marched over rather angrily. Mai raised an eyebrow. Liviana Traianus of the Lusitanian Empire. I wonder what she wants, she mused to herself. Mai noted how the princess was glaring at Zhou. Dammit, what did he do now? Mai took in the younger girl's appearance, letting herself get distracted for a moment by the pretty purple wrap that she wore. If Mai was to be completely honest, the girl who accompanied the princess looked more, well, royal than Liviana herself, despite the fact that her clothing was simpler and she wore less make-up.

"If your butler is going to so ungraciously send me for tumbling practice, the least you can do is be my dinner partner," Liviana Traianus of the Lusitanian Empire said in a strained tone, taking a seat beside Zhou and muttering something under her breath. Mai opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by Zhou.

Zhou stood up confidently. "Greetings princess! You too are quite the ingratus suus! How are you?" Mai internally groaned. She was tempted to stab Zhou again, although she kept her expression carefully arranged in one of mild interest.

She obviously wasn't complimenting you, you dumbass, Mai seethed silently, eyeing the exchange. The tiny princess was reported to be somewhat stubborn and very intelligent, though not physically strong. Because of that, it seemed like she was consistently de-valued by her own family. Mai thought that the emperor and empress of the Lusitanian Empire were making a grave mistake in doing so. The smartest people were always the most dangerous, or so her uncle had told her. Indeed, that had proven itself true many, many times in the past. Liviana Traianus did not look like much, but Mai was not a fool enough to underestimate her like the rest of her family did. And she certainly did not want the Lusitanian Empire as an enemy, which was why Mai decided to intervene before Zhou further insulted Liviana.

"What Zhou means to say," Mai interjected in a wry voice laced with a slight hint of mirth, "is that he is terribly sorry for what happened and that both he and I would love to have dinner with you," Mai said smoothly, flashing the princess from the Lusitanian Empire a semi-sheepish smile, glancing pointedly at Zhou. "To be truthful, I am glad that you decided to confront Zhou. I've been dying to ask you about that gorgeous wrap all day," Mai continued, motioning to the purple silk. That part, at least, was genuine.

There, that wasn't so bad, was it? she thought. If I can pretend that I don't know what the nobles at court back at home say about Uncle, Zhou, and I when we're not in the room, then I can certainly pretend that I don't want to smack Zhou right now. Liang was currently in a rather unstable situation, to say the least. There were still people who didn't want Ming Mei in power, although he was doing everything he could to improve the country in every way possible. When Zhou first barged into her life-quite literally, actually, by kicking down the door-Mai knew at once that he would despise the nobles and their conniving schemes. He was too genuine, too completely and utterly honest to accept anything less from other people. She deduced that much by watching him flat-out ask her uncle what the hell was going on. Anyone else would have tried to work their way into his good graces and find solid evidence to their claims before bringing it up, but not Zhou. Zhou would never be so subtle. She supposed that was one of the reasons why Ming was so fond of him. Ming Mei himself was just as blunt as Zhou, though he didn't always say the first thing that came to his mind like Zhou did. And he had years upon years of experience in dealing with the complexities of court life, something that Zhou sorely lacked.

As for Mai herself...Mai thought back to her early teens, when Ming would tell her to go by a fake name for months at a time. Mai soon lost count of all the people she'd pretended to be. She'd been Yin, the orphaned daughter of a powerful landlord, she'd been Xing Xing, a poor peasant girl, she'd been Yue, a skilled art student...the list went on. But through it all, Mai never forgot who she really was. She was Mai Mei, the heir to the throne and the daughter of arguably the worst rulers that Liang ever had. Mai was no stranger to lying, but she refused to lie to herself. She knew that her parents were horribly inefficient and wasteful, and it only strengthened her resolve to not make the same mistakes when it was her turn to wear the crown. When she was traveling with Ming Mei around Liang in order to bolster support for his cause, Mai Mei was always who she was in her heart, if not officially. Mai Mei was real. Mai Mei was who she really was.

Nowadays, though, even Mai Mei was starting to become a lie. Every day for the past six or seven years, Mai had donned a mask of charm and etiquette and reticence, behaving like a proper lady should. She never directly spoke her mind; that freedom had disappeared long before Ming Mei had taken the throne, when Mai was to hold her tongue in front of invading soldiers and her uncle's enemies, keeping her head down and staying under the radar. She was to pretend that she was Yin or Xing Xing or Yue or whichever name she had taken. Reavling her true identity would have been suicide, Mai knew, but some part of her ached to scream that she was Mai Mei for the world to hear, consequences be damned. And now that was exactly what Mai did-everybody knew who she was, everybody knew that she was not Yin or Xing Xing or Yue. She was Mai, and the whole world knew. It should have been a relief, all things considered, but if anything, it just brought more pressure. Pressure to hide her feelings behind chocolate-brown eyes twinkling with mirth and rosebud lips curved up into a coy smile, pressure to always keep her expression neutral or pleasant, pressure to respond politely to thinly veiled insults and pressure to remain calm and pressure to keep her mouth shut. One step out from behind the curtain, and everything that Ming Mei had worked for could come crashing down. Mai hid her true emotions so frequently that it was now second nature. She didn't even have to think. The mask she wore was starting to become the real thing, the real Mai. Only Zhou and his ridiculousness seemed to be able to bring back the Mai that Mai wanted to be; the Mai who wasn't afraid to stab somebody if they did something stupid, the Mai who wasn't constantly watching the other people in the room, the Mai that wasn't forced to hide her true abilities with bladed weapons under long silk skirts and deep red lipstick.

The sound of Raven Aster Willow, or the princess of Aciras, speaking caught Mai's attention. She snapped herself out of her reverie and focused on the dark-haired princess. What the hell are you doing, daydreaming like that? Focus, she chided herself silently. "Everyone, may I have your attention please," Raven began. The room quieted as the other princes and princesses looked at Raven and fell silent in order to hear what she had to say. "I.. I have another important announcement. The betrothals have been changed. I don't know how it happened, but it did and now here is the list." Mai felt shock and surprise flicker through her mind, but she didn't have a chance to fully process the gravity of Raven's words before the princess began listing the new betrothals. "Niklas and Mai are still paired as they were originally. Meenakshi Banerjee and Akamatsu Hiko. Amunemhet Sipar and Alva Weston. Lucian Kernaghan and Amberlyn Manera. Alexander Belmont and Julieta Aragon. Liviana Traianus and Lenwood Heath. Cara O'Brien and Zhou Xianshi. Edwin Drakewine and Elizaveta Romanova. Raven Willow and Karma Kennen. Delia Oblitus-Veren and Henry Peterson. I don't believe that the Weston Twins have arrived yet. If you have any questions, I'll answer them to the best of my ability. That is all." Raven sat down again, and the room was immediately abuzz with confusion. Mai herself was at a loss. Why would the betrothals be changed so suddenly? And who in the world would do something as...as irrational as that?

There was also the nagging question of why she and Niklas remained betrothed. Mai supposed that it didn't matter. Nothing had changed, at least for her. She was still to marry the soldier prince, whatever that entailed. As for Zhou...she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. So. He was to marry Cara "chloroplast" O'Brien. Mai had absolutely no idea if Zhou had done any research at all on the other royalty, but she decided that it would be the safest to assume that he did not even know most of their names. From what Mai had read, Cara was an intelligent princess of humble origins, with a sarcastic sense of humor and a fiery temper. She and Zhou are either going to get along dangerously well or end up killing each other, Mai thought dryly to herself. Speaking of Cara, Mai had yet to formally introduce herself to Niklas. She wondered if the report given to the prince of Königreich der Welten mentioned anything about her past, about how she'd been all over the country and seen things that she would have given anything to be able to un-see. Mai didn't think that it was very likely, considering the fact that she'd taken on false identities for safety reasons, but she couldn't be one hundred percent sure. Königreich der Welten was a major world power; they were bound to have sources of information about the nation where their heir's bride was from.

Mai nudged Zhou gently. "Both of the people we are betrothed to are over there," she said quietly, gesturing in the direction of where Niklas König of Königreich der Welten and Cara O'Brien of the Celtic Consortium were currently seated. "Should we go introduce ourselves?" Mai glanced at Liviana Traianus; she supposed that it would be rude to leave the princess here by herself, so she turned and asked Liviana if she would like to come along with them.

Summary

-Mai interrupts Zhou before he can insult Liviana TOO much
-She thinks about some stuff that is 2deep4me
-Expresses surprise about the change in betrothals and acknowledges that Cara and Zhou are either going to get along dangerously well or end up killing each other
-Asks Zhou and Liviana if they wanna go over to Cara and Niklas, 'cause you know, Zhou and Mai are betrothed to them

NO LONGER ACTIVE : Tides of Sedition

September 10th, 2016

Willa left the warehouse with the envelope, pondering the implications of all the information that had just been revealed to her. X-whoever X was-obviously wanted more than to simply stir the pot, that much was obvious. But what was it that Willa wanted besides getting away from her sire? The realization that she had no idea what she wanted beyond that hit Willa hard. Her life revolved so much around Stella and pain and hunger that she'd never even bothered to consider what she truly wanted.

Willa supposed that it didn't really matter. The opportunity presented by X was her best chance to get away from her sire, and there was no in way in hell that she was going to pass it up, now that she'd made up her mind.

Back at Stella's home, Willa entered through the back door like she always did. Stella was inside, she knew, but not likely to pay any attention to her. Willa tucked the envelope into the baggy sleeve of her sweatshirt and began to walk to the room that she slept in. Stella passed her in the corridor, her footsteps brisk and echoing loudly through the house. Indeed, Stella simply ignored Willa, like she'd predicted. X wasn't kidding when they said that we are invisible, she thought dryly to herself. Willa went inside her room and took out the envelope. She suddenly felt much too drained to open it, so she carefully put it away and sat down on her bed. The room itself was not much larger than a closet, but it was all she had. Willa wondered if she should make an effort to hide the envelope, although Stella rarely ever came in. Only when she needed Willa.

Willa yawned. She was tired. Giving the envelope one last glance, Willa curled up under the ratty covers and closed her eyes, deciding to get some much-needed sleep.

​September 17th, 2016

There had been no sign of Stella for the past three days, much to Willa's relief. That meant she would be able to do what she wanted to without fear of being discovered, at least for a little while. Willa had read the contents of the envelope multiple times, attempting to fill in the gaps in her knowledge of the vampire world as she did so.

Willa knew of the barons and baronesses in name only. She was unsure of Lyssa's abilities, though she had come across vampires of Orthrus's bloodline before. She shuddered instinctively, remembering a close run-in she'd had with one of them a couple years ago. As for Lenore and Maike, Willa had no memories of encountering any vampires of their bloodlines, and frankly, she had no desire to. The plans that X proposed were certainly interesting, although Willa did not know if they would be the most plausible. However, Willa could see they didn't really have any other options, so they would have to trust X's instructions and information for now.

Willa was sitting on the ground, waiting for the sun to fully set. She idly fiddled with the small magnetic clip that had been in the envelope as well, re-reading the message. The day before Willa had fed on a couple small birds and then attempted to fix her leg that had healed wrong, to no avail. She sighed. It seemed like she would be stuck with the limp until Stella decided to break her legs yet again.

There was also the matter of how pitifully unskilled she was in regards to her...powers, if you will. In order to feed, Willa had managed to move some of the pain out of her into the birds, though just barely, and even that made her feel dizzy and faint. Willa supposed that she needed to actually make use of her ability more often if she wanted to be able to use it properly, but she was always too drained of energy to do so.

Casting a glance outside, Willa decided that it would be safe enough to set out. She pinned the magnetic clip to the inside of her jacket before walking out the back door, as she was accustomed to doing. Willa's eyebrow twitched, and she grimaced slightly. There was a dull, throbbing ache coming from her leg. The pain had faded a bit in the past week, but her leg still gave her trouble. She gritted her teeth and did her best to ignore it. It wasn't like she could do anything about it at this point anyway.

Willa slowly but steadily made her way to the address X had given them back near the warehouse. It was located in one of the wealthier parts of Charleston, and in the Oracle's territory. Willa supposed that the safe house was most definitely a good thing to have, and the fact that it was in the Oracle's territory provided her with some degree of reassurance. It wasn't long before she found herself at the address X had provided-12 Paludis Drive, West Ashley, South Carolina. It was eerily quiet in this part of the city. Willa was so accustomed to the steady hum of noise from the city that she barely even noticed its presence anymore. Only when it was gone did Willa realize how it always seemed to be there. She eyed the house warily. There was nothing about it that indicated that it belonged to a powerful vampire or something of that sort, but Willa supposed that was to be expected. No vampire was stupid enough to be announcing their presence for the entire human population to hear.

The entire neighborhood spoke of well-to-do families with houses reminiscent of those found in the antebellum South. Willa felt like she was intruding on something sacred as she climbed the steps to the house. Willa came from a town where paint peeled off the walls, permanent stains and cracks littered the floors, and everything seemed to be run-down and worn-out, even things that were newly bought. And after being turned into a vampire, Willa had been living in a wealthy but modern part of Charleston, with sharp edges and sleek surfaces and minimalist decor. The charm of the Old South that permeated this neighborhood felt foreign to Willa, and she half-expected that somebody would come out of one of the houses and tell her to leave because she was trespassing on private property.

Of course, nothing of that sort happened. Willa made it to the door of the house with some difficulty, stopping once or twice on the staircase to wait for the throbbing in her leg to recede before continuing. She took a moment to catch her breath before placing a hand on the door knob, scanning the note that X had left.

Inside the house, Willa came across a small table with a number of keys placed on it. She picked up the one that was labelled with her name, running her finger across its teeth before pocketing it. The sound of someone rummaging around drew Willa's attention to the right. She tentatively walked into the space, eyeing the area nervously. Willa decided to wait for those who hadn't arrived yet in the kitchen. She gingerly sat down in one of the chairs, wondering what was going to happen next.

When Royalty Collides ~Closed~

I'll try to post again in the next few days, I still owe a post for a different rp though whoops

NO LONGER ACTIVE : Tides of Sedition

I have a post currently in progress, sorry about the delay!!! Should be up within the next few days

Men vs. Women Race to 1000

-147

Men vs. Women Race to 1000

-135

NO LONGER ACTIVE : Tides of Sedition

sweet! will get a post up asap