Raineh Daze

I Reincarnated into the World of an Otome Game, But———?! (Now Accepting)

Elastasia

"Euuuuuuggh..." Elastasia groaned, pouting. It wasn't like any of the girls coming into the school were really growing that noticeably; there was no way she'd fit into the first years on height alone... which was a pretty dismal assessment of her own size, all things considered, but there was nothing she'd ever be able to do about that. Except levitate, but that sort of showy thing for conversation was very impolite unless circumstances actually demanded it for some reason.

Really, what was with Serrica's parting message? The rumours hadn't gotten out of hand yet, nobody was too interested in paying attention to where the bookworm was looking when she remembered to show up to social events (and that was the door more often than it was the ladies in attendance) and she'd not gotten blatant in her interests to the point of scandal either. Did the brunette know something? Hopefully not, she already had enough to think about avoiding any pretty first-year girls; Elastasia wasn't going to go seek them out.

Wandering around the courtyard, however, brought her to someone else she was familiar with. They were probably cousins of some degree, which would help with recognising her brother, but more importantly he was pretty tall.

"Hey, Reggie, have you seen my brother?" the short girl asked, popping up behind him as he looked to exit the courtyard, and falling into place even as he headed towards the markets proper. "I think he might have gone looking for me."

Ah, Reginald. Such a problem in so many routes of the game; as nice as she was now, it had crossed Elastasia's mind more than once to try and arrange a few accidents if the heroine ignored him. More than the other capture targets, even, as at least this didn't mean contemplating regicide. Though, trying to avert some of the biggest conflicts by violence really was a matter of last resort... she didn't want to do something like that, and it wasn't really her forte. Maybe if she could find some of the other second-half characters...

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Tyaethe

The vampire's response to the entire attempted assassination was... to nearly raise her hand fully before putting it down again as the Lilette moved faster, and then draining the glass. Somehow, in the confusion, she even managed to pull off swiping one from someone else as the crowd parted, looking around for the assassin. Hm, couldn't see them. But was that because the assassin was short, or because she was? It could really go either way.

"No, Arcedeen," her voice was loud and clear, despite the din, "The princesses will be safe with Lilette and me; you all capture the assassin. We need to know what's going on now, not give them a week to try again and cover their tracks."

After all, she could stop an assassination attempt without running around. Chasing down the assassin? No chance. And she really didn't have time to stop and explain that to the other knights in this situation. Just point at a very confused and aghast-looking crown knight and... yes, she had a sword now. Lilette was guarding Elisandre, so she she'd just have to go fetch Maletha and escort her over.

I Reincarnated into the World of an Otome Game, But———?! (Now Accepting)

Elastasia

Well, at least that was one other person now on the lookout for her brother. That greatly simplified matters, although maybe Elastasia could do something else to help find him in this crowd a little bit faster... if nothing else, a little bit of magic ought to give her a better vantage point to see from, right?

Before she could do that, there was the little matter of Serrica's tea party to address. It wasn't the sort of thing that Elastasia wanted to attend. All-female or not, it would still just be a party of rich girls, and nobility vying for attention. But... maybe she should keep things moving in the direction of the main story? She hadn't met yet, but if Anne showed up in a magic class before this party, it should be possible to make the beginnings of an invitation and ensure she started to acquire powerful allies before the route splits.

But she didn't want to go...

"Oh, I don't know if I could meet many people you haven't," she said, resting her hand on her chin, "The Academy already draws from our typical social circles quite heavily. Your year would be the one most likely to have unfamiliar girls of lower rank."

@Pyromania99

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"As you wish," Velbrance conceded, irritation glittering in dark eyes for but a moment before the polished veneer returned. The scion still did everything but take the captain's arm, never quite overstepping the bounds of simply going the same direction, but taking every effort to appear to be with her.

He politely applauded the duel, remarking, "Strange; for an exhibition I would have expected something flashier and less practical. I suppose even the Iron Roses must have trouble arranging on such short order."

Any designs or plans involving the princess were promptly scuppered by said princess's running off to talk with the knights... a conversation that Velbrance seemed to have no interest in pursuing, instead pivoting to the nearest member of high society: Veilena.

"Your Grace, it is good to see your participation for once," he said, offering a deep bow, eyes flicking around the girl, "It makes them far more bearable than standing to one side. Of course, I'm sure you know of Knight-Captain Danbalion. If your bodyguard is around, surely the opportunity to meet such storied knights would interest them?

"And Lady Arcedeen! I'm glad to see you looking well this evening. I must congratulate you on your accession to the Iron Roses; I believe my father's gifts should have arrived for your father and yourself?"

@VitaVitaAR@ERode

I Reincarnated into the World of an Otome Game, But———?! (Now Accepting)

Elastasia

"Eep!" All pretences of maintaining an elegant, noble facade were driven out of Elastasia with the collision, the meek squeak being followed up by a dejected pout at being literally overlooked in such a manner. Of course she was small, even smaller than her last go around at life, but that didn't excuse missing her entirely; it was a sunny day, surely all her hair caught the light at least a little bit...

For all her magical ability, she was fairly sure that she hadn't yet developed the ability to summon people with the force of her thoughts alone. Yet, here was the one of the obvious deviations from the game in the flesh--considerably more self-interested, for one, and with a rather curious interest in surrounding herself with pretty girls in social situations, even though one might expect a noble of her station to seek out promising heirs at this stage. Albeit, the world of Cross Heart Academy hadn't been so fleshed out as to cover every character's private life in detail, and that may just have been Elastasia's own inclinations colouring her perceptions, but it seemed another odd point to the list.

"I am quite well, Lady Haldblum. Aside from out most estimable headmaster's speeches, I trust that the academy has been to your liking thus far?" she replied, looking up at the brunette. Oh, that was another change; she seemed to e starting to grow it out. That was a shame, although longer hair could certainly frame that figure nicely. "Have you seen Terys, perchance? I was looking for him after the ceremony..."

@Pyromania99

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Tyaethe

She likely would have kept trying to make progress on arranging a proper exhibition match--they had all evening, after all; it couldn't be too hard to send someone for a change of clothes (or find a page or something who would jump at the chance to attend a royal ball in exchange for lending Tyaethe an outfit for a little while) before everyone had to make their leave. However, there were some things that took precedence over continuing to be a pest in a foreign language.

The presence of royalty was one of them, the vampire turning and making a deep bow in one continuous movement. It was almost surprising that she didn't manage to catch anything and trip in the process. "Your highness, to what do we owe this pleasure? As I am sure you know, I am Sir Tyaethe. This is..." what followed was definitely not the name anyone would have expected, longer and distinctly unfamiliar in sound; no doubt the elf's common name was a translation rather than a mere foreign pronunciation, "More commonly known as Lilette."

The elf's curtsy was considerably more restrained, yet no less polished. "Good evening, your highness. Ithainne's craftsmanship suits you."

@VitaVitaAR

---

"O-Oh, okay," the elf responded, looking crestfallen for a second before schooling her features back into the same cool expression she had been wearing before they started, "It was... nice dancing with you."

Lilia did seem rather adrift looking, abandoned on the edge of the dancefloor--it appeared that Ithainne had temporarily excused herself from the proceedings, as she would have massively stood out even with the thickening crowds. And, of course, her mother was now at the centre of attention, quite removed from the rest of them.

Urban Starlight Wonderland: Tokyo Stardust, a team-based magical girl RP!

Abigail

The second to arrive was one of the most noticeable members of their little group... even if she had put off transforming before arrival. In fact, that probably only made her more distinctive, the huge blonde foreigner standing out like a sore thumb. As for why she had come over in her civilian form? Well, from the look of it, they huge bag bursting with convenience store snacks might have something to do with it.

Abigail still wasn't sure if running around transformed counted as walking the dog, either, so that was another reason to not transform until everyone was here. Lucy, now off of her leash... slowly walked over to the pink-haired magical girl and gave her a gentle headbutt, blue eyes imploringly looking up for attention.

"Oh, has nobody else arrived?" the blonde asked, looking around to make sure nobody else was hiding behind a tree just waiting to pop out, "That means you have first choice of the snacks, then."

It really was too many snacks and drinks for less than half a dozen girls, but telling her that before made no difference. She was quite happy to keep buying them all, and it was rather hard to stop her, since it was impossible to get hold of her until school was over and she came to find them (let alone in the evening like this).

I Reincarnated into the World of an Otome Game, But———?! (Now Accepting)

Elastasia

Ribbon... check. Stockings and shoes... check. Hair neatly brushed (and even years after gaining a second lifetime's worth of memories, the ease with which magic simplified dealing with that still gave her a warm feeling), and not all done at the last second because she'd gotten too wrapped up in a book to remember. For once, Elastasia had managed to prepare for and show up to an event without prompting! Okay, it was also a huge event everyone at the academy was going to, which made it hard to miss, but she could still have ignored all that and missed the ceremony.

But then she would miss seeing Terys on his first day, relegating the younger boy to trying to seek her out somewhere amidst the school. For all his diligence, he didn't know the way around just yet. Besides, she missed the years where they'd see each other daily (even if the her that missed them wasn't the same as the her of now), it'd be a great opportunity to say hello.

Actually listening to the speech, Elastasia wished that she had chosen to skip after all. Not only was it boring and denied her the chance to read, being situated at the back with all the other third-year students meant that she couldn't see anything. Bored face after bored face in every direction, a speech regurgitated by rote to the point she was sure some of the better orators here could copy it verbatim...

It wasn't a fun experience, all in all.

Nor was fighting against the current of people leaving the courtyard, the occasional too-tall boy walking into her and having to make a hasty apology. Really, it was bad enough that by the time she actually got to the first years, the area was half emptied already, and trying to find her also-short brother amidst this sea of giants.

So, she relocated to just outside the entrance instead. Maybe Terys would have better luck finding her.

Hmm... already, there were a few familiar faces, bringing to mind how significant the upcoming year would be. That green-haired mop was undoubtedly the tutorial merchant, liable to run into the heroine soon more often than not. Whether he'd be quite as helpful in reality as in the game was debatable; a few of the individuals she'd met seemed quite distinct from their written personalities--Serrica always stood out as being rather different, for whatever reason.

And there was no way to tell what actual personality Anne would come into the world with. Bland? Exciting? Her looks were Elastasia's type, as generic as they were, but she hoped to avoid any hopeless confessions in her actual life.

I Reincarnated into the World of an Otome Game, But———?! (Now Accepting)

Possible Ending stuff

Elastasia Endings
Disinherited Archmage:
The default ending for Elastasia, brought up if the Heroine interacts with her in some capacity but never grows close enough to attract her romantic interests (and avert any scandals). Despite her brother's best efforts, Elastasia's tendency to miss important events, and increasingly overt pursuit of other women, lead her to inadvertantly offend the royal family before the first half of the game is even over, and her family responds by moving to keep her out of the public eye entirely. No longer considered for succession, despite her prodigious talent, Elastasia goes on to become famous for her magical talent and abilities... but carefully kept out of the way where she can do no more reputational harm.

So adept is her family at surviving political turmoil and the kingdom shuffling around them that nothing less than the complete end of the world prevents this ending from triggering.

Marquise Mage:
The second easiest ending to get--you simply have to befriend her enough to get the confession, which inevitably allows for averting the aforementioned scandal. Instead of being sequestered away to avoid trouble, Elastasia remains available throughout the entirety of the game's second half, eventually taking over for her ailing father in its latter stages... formally, at least, with Terys doing most of the actual running of things. Still, instead of being a powerful mage with no public exposure whatsoever, she instead goes on to be a powerful mage and the public figurehead of her family.

Heroine's Attendant:
The rarest of Elastasia's general endings, it usually only triggers by default when pursuing her brother as a capture target: instead of Elastasia taking over, the Heroine's actions raise Terys' public profile to the point where she gets passed over for inheritance and the still-besotted Elastasia opts to offer her services more directly to the heroine. However, enough of the flags can be set without triggering the route itself to set this up on other paths. Whilst the least palatable to many players from a character perspective, it offers several direct benefits regarding service availability and combat roles for the more strategy-focused second halves.

The Grand Barrier:
The only special ending (which is more than can be said for many secondary characters) Elastasia has requires the player to make some very strange decisions regarding their skill priorities and levelling choices. On the one hand, you have to max out Elastasia's initial interest in kinetic spells, something that won't even use all her levelling opportunities and therefore not too burdensome. But the player must also head down a route with a plain apocalyptic ending, and avoid setting the stage for the Good Ending, as well as avoiding any bittersweet ending where the Heroine sacrifices herself to put an end to the threat. Normally, this would force you into a bad ending, but if--without any prompting at all--the player opts to talk to everyone right before the ending is locked in and Terys is in charge of the family, they will discover that Elastasia has a unique dialogue line for this situation.

In this ending, Elastasia is the one to sacrifice herself instead, shackling herself to a ritual to maintain an impenetrable barrier between said apocalypse and the rest of the world such that time for a solution can be found. Not for mere days or weeks, but for up to centuries, leaving it standing as a feature in the world whilst everything else plays out like the good ending. In her previous life, Elastasia wondered if one of the developers had wanted to write an RPG sequel or the like and had squeezed this in as a justification for not having solved the major problem.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"N-N-Not at all!" Lilia stammered, uncharacteristically missing a step and nearly tripping over her own feet, recovering just in time to avoid tripping entirely. Her brush was practically incandescent as she did her best to look away from Cecilia, which took some awkward positioning given how close they were as a result of a new dance. "I just don't handle crowds the best..."

Although, she did seem to be doing a good enough job of it tonight. Then again, she had been standing quietly off to one side until one of the Iron Roses came over.

"Oh, yeah, mum was one of the first to join! Fastest blade in the order, candidate for its best duellist, and she took part in the really famous battles! She was at the destruction of the Vos Korvungand, and one of the knights that helped fight Volkstraad the Red before Elionne slew him." Lilia continued, enthusiasm creeping into her voice, "She was only part of the knights for a few decades, but she has so many stories. Not just of her, but Elionne, Florian, Agrahn... oh, and all the times that 'those four' would cause some sort of trouble or play jokes on people. I didn't get a good look at her, but Tyaethe doesn't really act like I expected from all the trouble she'd cause with Cyrus or Edwin..."

@Rune_Alchemist