[M] Promethean Galaxy: Dynasties (Holey & Cosmic)

[Holeypaladin]

As princess Marin mentioned having to use the facilities, Kataline put her finger to her lips as if in deep thought. Suddenly, she figured it out. "I'll go with you!" she volunteered, getting up. Seeing this as an opportunity to escape, the Emperor made a move to get up as well.... only to be pushed back into his seat by the insistent princess. "You. Stay," he said. "Don't move. You'd better be here when we get back!"

The Emperor sighed as Katalina went off to go use the "necessities" with Marin. Whether she had caught on to the princess' escape plan, or whether it was one of those girl things where they all had to go to the restroom as a group rather than one at a time, was anyone's guess. Katalina made it out to be the latter... but at times, the young princess was far too clever for her own good.

The Emperor found himself alone, in a room with a pretty princess from a foreign nation. He glanced across the table at Lianna. And he had absolutely no idea what to say... so he remained awkwardly silent. This was... definitely an awkward position for him. Taking the tea that was far too sweet and nearly inedible, he put it to his lips to drink it, as an excuse for doing something other than talking.

[Cosmic Fury]

Instead, Lianna saved him from an otherwise disastrous situation. "Umm... you shouldn't."

She simply felt too awkward to say anything else. Instead, she made haste to get rid of the foreign man's tea before the other two got back, and spoke in an almost inaudible, nervous voice. "If even Marin couldn't take it, you'd probably end up slouched against the wall if you drank that." She poured him a new cup of tea, this time putting a lot less sugar into it.

It took her a while to search for words, but she finally said them, this time in a slightly less nervous voice. "Please forgive my younger cousin. She's... not really into this sort of thing." The footsteps in the hall outside of the chamber were audible, as Marin's shoe heels clicked on the floor as she picked up her pace.

"Let's just say this isn't her element." Lianna gracefully handed the stranger his cup of tea, and with an unmatched elegance somehow found a way to move in her ballroom dress, back over to her seat at the other side of the small table situated in the middle of the room. She almost giggled at the thought of Marin making haste in that puffy dress of hers -- it simply wasn't a sight she got to see very often. However, she caught herself before she could show any sign of her mischievous mirth, being mindful of the other guest in the room.

"I take it that you're not very comfortable with this sort of thing either?" Lianna had an odd way of getting to the point, even if she was very talkative and "really girly," as Marin liked to put it. "If you're not, it's fine. Tea parties aren't for everyone."

She gave a very knowing smile as she made herself more comfortable in her seat.

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In the meantime, Marin's pace gradually accelerated. Even in her restrictive clothing, she had taken steps to ensure that she could at least move freely -- even going through a half-hour battle to keep a corset from being "strapped like crash webbing to her chest," as she put it. However, that other chick was surprisingly fast herself, and she found her steps being dogged all the way down the long corridor. What the hell kind of girl is this!?

As she picked up more speed towards the restrooms, she knew she had an excellent excuse for going as fast as she was. However, she couldn't put into any polite words that she simply hated the situation she was shoved into, dress and all. So, she simply tried to extract herself. Think, Marin! What would they do? Her thoughts drifted to her distant cousins, and tried to think in their shoes. What would they do if they -- especially Masamune -- were cornered into a spot like this?

Julius wouldn't even think. He'd either suck it up or fight his way out if he wanted to. But, Marin wasn't really the type of girl to openly start a fight over a series of pet peeves -- regardless of how angry she got over them. She already tried Karl's typical method of finding the perfect scapegoat to get out of the situation, but that obviously failed and now she was being hunted down like a dog by one of the very people she needed to get more than an arm's length away from.

But she didn't know about Masamune. He had spent most of his life totally blind. He simply couldn't escape if he was shunted into this sort of situation without help. He'd simply figure out the best way forward, whether he knew the path in front of him or not. That's it! Like Masamune, she'd strategize this one out! And speak of the devil!

As she rounded a corner (also conveniently on the way to a restroom that she knew of), she discovered that it wasn't that far from where her cousin had gone off and talked to the foreign man about something. Sure enough, she saw him down the passageway, this time with a bewildered look on his face as he saw the two girls racing down the hallway. She flashed a hidden signal towards him in a private code that she had been taught by her cousins - one that indicated trouble... and her cousin instantly picked up on the situation.

She started slowing down, and she approached her cousin. "The lady's room is that way, right?" She pointed further down the hall. This time, she hoped that Masamune would boldly take her place - voluntarily this time, unlike the unfortunate soul she dumped in the chamber further behind her. I'll have to make it up to the poor man later...

"As far as I know, yep." Masamune pointed further down, and with impressive subtlety flashed a sign that simply meant "help." Although Marin couldn't guess at what her cousin really meant, she still took it as a good omen. Confident that she was saved, she proceeded on her way, certain that her cousin could at least stall the other girl until Marin came up with something constructive to say.

[Holeypaladin]

Lianna was kind enough to break the awkward silence, it seemed. Offering her a slight smile which seemed unnatural on his face, he said, "Thanks." He wasn't the sort to use more words than necessary, and the princess was pretty enough that he felt a bit awkward in her presence, but knowing Katalina, she had in fact intended to force him to be alone with the pretty princess for a short period of time. She had, after all, encouraged him on numerous occasions to find himself a wife, though he still continued to resist her in that regard.

"Not a very princess-like princess, is she?" He chuckled a bit as he heard Marin fleeing as fast as she could from Katalina. It was indeed amusing... the Achenaran was merely trying to make friends, but it didn't seem to be working out so well in the case of Marin. "Katalina is the one who should forgive her... she'll be a bit sad and think Marin doesn't want to be friends, at this rate."

With a shrug, he took a sip of the tea. It was still somewhat sweeter than he was used to, but that was because he normally didn't use any sweetener at all. "Much better, thanks. You're right in that these aren't really my thing... but Katalina has a tendency to refuse me to isolate and drag me around like you saw... you should have seen her when she was younger. The girl viewed me as her own personal pony... complete with turning my head in the direction she wanted me to travel while she was on my shoulders." He chuckled a bit at the memory.

__________________________________________________ _____________________________

Katalina giggled as she gave a merry chase after the Glacian princess, treating it as a sort of game. She didn't want to think that she was being avoided, so she pretended not to notice the fact that Marin was trying to get away from her. Eventually, she reached a point where Marin had asked her cousin to come to her rescue. Well, at least she had someone new to play with.

"Hello, mister prince!" Katalina said cheerfully to the Glacian. "Come with me! We're having a tea party!" With that, she grabbed Masamune's hand in order to drag him back to the tea party. She was making her way slower on the way back, in order to give her uncle a bit of time to talk to the other pretty princess, the nicer one in her opinion, but she didn't want to wait so long that he had a chance to sneak off, either.

[Cosmic Fury]

"Well, she's basically like a fairy tale princess, right?" Lianna asked the question out loud, both for self-reflection and for the other man's benefit. "She knows that one day she'll grow up. But until then, she knows she'll have to enjoy every moment she can, because it won't last forever."

She noted that her tea, even though it was mildly sweetened, was still not to the stranger's taste. Lodging that fact as a mental note in her mind, she went on. "As for Marin, she's a lot less polished than most. She's an only daughter, you see, and she was never close with her mother. So, she's basically become a lot like her cousins."

After saying that, she started to quickly prepare a the next small pot of tea, this time avoiding sweetener altogether, seeing that they had sugar nearby as it was. "And I'm personally happy that Katalina thinks about you this way." Lianna gave off a beautiful and disarming smile. "It's proof that she genuinely cares for you. It's almost like the bond myself and Marin share with our cousins... In fact, it's a part of the reason they decided to bring us here."

------------------------------------

Masamune saw a familiar blur headed towards him, and of course he gave the usual signal. When Marin had spoken, she was clearly in some sort of distress. I might be blind, but I can still sense things. If anything, his two foreign masters had taught him how to sense anything wrong with anything around him. He then saw another silhouette of an unknown person rushing towards him. He heard the same person speaking as before; it was the Achenaran princess. So she's the one Marin's trying to get away from.

Suddenly, he felt someone grab his hand. He almost pulled back defensively -- he was in a strange place, and this was a strange person whose voice wasn't familiar or dear to him. She was merely acting playfully though, so he allowed her to pull him along, but he nearly tripped at how fast she was moving.

"Just be careful, alright? I'm blind and can't move very fast." As usual, Masamune spoke quietly, but his words echoed through the large hallway. It was common knowledge in certain circles that he was blind, but he was unsure if Katalina was aware of that fact.

[Holeypaladin]

"I can't begin to comprehend what goes through the head of a girl her age," the Emperor said with a shrug. Lianna seemed to understand his niece better than he did, or at least had some sort of clue as to what she might be feeling. "All I really know is that she won't let me be antisocial so long as she's around. Which thankfully isn't all that terribly often, because she can be a bit exhausting." He chuckled slightly, "In a good way, but still..."

Sipping the slightly sweetened tea that had been given to him, he considered what the princess had said about Marin. "So you're basically saying she's somewhat of a tomboy," he said as he added up the words that the princess had said. Well, it showed, somewhat, in that she didn't like to do girly things in the same way that Katalina did... though in a traditional Achenaran court it could also make it difficult for her to find a husband.

Watching her brew another pot, he still kept his guard up somewhat around this princess, but not to the extent where he would appear rude. He simply wasn't used to allowing others to get close to him, besides special cases like Katalina who had slipped in through the cracks. "Indeed," he noted, "And it's good to see that you and your cousins have faith in the Imperium's hospitality and reputation." With so many key members of the Glacian Imperial Family on a single trip into uncertain territory, it must have cause quite the commotion back home, provided they even informed anyone of where they were going prior to their departure.

________________________________

"Ohhhh don't be talking like you're some kind of old man!" the Achenaran princess said with a giggle as she kept tugging on Masamune's hand. "You should just get new eyes if you're blind!" Her words were spoken somewhat out of ignorance of Glacian customs, true, but that was simply the way she was. Having grown up around some of the miraculous medical technology of the Imperium, curing blindness was something that was simply done. "Ask Uncle Donald to help if you don't have the technology back home!" Additionally, to her, every problem could be solved simply by asking her uncle for help.

As he reached the tea party, Katalina said, "Hii! I'm back! Princess Marin doesn't want to be friends anymore, so I brought Prince Masamune to take her place!" Glancing over to Masamune, he said, "But we can't dress him up in a pretty dress since he's a guy... oh well! Have some tea, Prince Masamune!" Sitting him down, she began to pour some of the ridiculously sweet tea into his cup.

[Cosmic Fury]

"With all respect, she's right." Lianna chose her next words rather carefully. "An Emperor who lives under a rock might as well hand the power to someone else. Our own Empire has had rulers where they never came out of their shells, and they not only had their personal lives regulated by others, but eventually their political power as well. I'm sure you're well aware of this, but any Imperial ends up having their personal and political lives muddying each other. If one is controlled by another, so will the other before long."

She couldn't say much though, because the conversation shifted back towards Marin. "She takes after her father, in almost every sense of the word. King Eric of Aero is a rough man, and despite his wife's best efforts, Marin still developed her father's sharp tongue and rather gruff ways. So, the girl was sent to live with her maternal grandfather, the Emperor. I think everyone's hope was that she'd grow out of this phase, or whatever it is that people call it."

She wouldn't say it, but she firmly believed that Marin was far beyond "saving." She was simply a very independently-minded person, and half her actions were simply an effort to send exactly that message across to others. The girl simply refused to depend on others, and there were very few exceptions to the rule -- the most surprising one being Masamune. She never quite understood her younger, more cryptic cousin, and got the feeling that despite Marin's rough-and-tumble personality, the two had seen each other's vulnerabilities and found one another perfect for covering them. I don't think I'll truly understand those two.

As for their trust in the Imperium, Lianna found the Emperor's display of faith oddly flattering, but she needed to tell the truth. "It's not that I directly trust the Imperium. We know that this very Imperium was, until recently, both ruled and built through war, chaos, and their related policies. The same thing holds true about our own Empire and its wars of unification."

She looked the Emperor in the eye, and she made sure that her words truly registered in the older man's mind. "Instead of trusting you directly, we simply rely on the fact that the consequences of hostility towards us would be too steep for almost anyone to stomach. Above that, though, we trust in Masamune's judgment. Despite his blindness, he's more perceptive than most people I know. It's him you should be thanking, not me. Just as you probably don't trust me right now, the same can be said of us."

Lianna's thoughts flew through her head just in time for her blind cousin to be unceremoniously dragged in by the obviously excitable Princess Katalina. It was painfully obvious that the girl simply didn't know how much care she needed to exercise in dealing with blind people. It was understandable that, given both countries' amazing medical technology, it was almost unheard of for a person to be blind... and Masamune was the only blind noble that she knew of. Imperials are really a sorry lot. A single defect can leave them in a terrible position, and the way those people treated Masamune before he was born was unforgivable.

She fought to keep a look of pity off her face, as she saw her cousin deal with the manhandling with unusual grace, then move straight on to drink his sugar-nuked tea without so much as an off-hand twitch on his face. Crippled or not, at least he's got nerves of steel.

-----------------------------------------

"Old man or not, I still can't see where I'm going. I might trip!" Masamune wasn't used to being manhandled like this, never mind dragged like some sort of doll across a completely unfamiliar area. Friendly or not, this chick was acting very rough and unrefined. I pray to the gods that Lianna's in there, or I'm royally screwed. Despite his intense discomfort at being randomly seized and all but carried off by an almost-total stranger, he did at least catch a glimpse of what kind of person she was. She seemed like she formed attachments to people easily... and very aggressively.

Masamune didn't say anything else. It was clear that the girl wouldn't be convinced to slow down. Thankfully though, their intended destination wasn't that far off, and he found himself being sat down in a dangerously comfortable chair. But, he soon found that the worst was yet to come. From talking about dressing up to the cup of whatever-it-was in his hand, he knew he was in for a rough ride. He simply buckled down, sipped the tea... and found his brain hammered with enough sugar to knock over a stone dragon.

Even though the last two minutes positively sucked, he still took it like a champ. He saw multiple blurs here and there -- a woman and a man, as well as Katalina. He had overheard Lianna's voice earlier, so he at least knew he wasn't alone in this situation. I'm surprised things haven't gone totally south. Lianna's probably holding down the fort as best she can. I'll have to thank her again later for finally deciding to tag along with us.

[Holeypaladin]

With a smirk at Lianna's words, the Emperor said, "Typically, whenever someone says something beginning with the phrase 'With all respect,' it tends to mean that whatever follows will be somewhat disrespectful. But, you do pose a fair point. There was a time in my career where the Council would take advantage of my tendencies to get their own agendas passed. Most of those council members have either been reined in or executed for treason by now, with certain measures in place to prevent it from happening again. But I'll never be a social butterfly... it's just not in my nature."

"I'm not sure growing up surrounded by men is the best way for a young lady to grow out of her phase," Donald said with a shrug, "Perhaps instead she needs girls like you to show her how to act. And Katalina," he added with a bit of a chuckle. He tended to agree with Lianna in that Marin would never be a particularly feminine lady, at this point. But then, he didn't know many details regarding her personal life.

"I believe you have a false impression of the Imperium," the Emperor said. "While it exists in some chaotic times, the Imperium itself is a force of Order. Hence the reason why we have the most stable form of government, as opposed to the utter chaos that is Democracy. Even the way in which we conduct war is orderly... superior planning and strategy lead to swift success, and are the result of order and organization. Though it is in the nature of people to be selfish and chaotic... the Imperium instead organizes the chaotic nature of people in a way that is beneficial to society as a whole."

He wouldn't go so far as to claim that everyone living under Imperial rule is better off than they would be otherwise, but by and large, the civilizations that had been conquered and assimilated by the Imperium were much better off for it. Despite its obvious flaws, Donald III had difficulty thinking of a better way to rule the Imperium that didn't involve the absolute control over the free will of its individuals.

Nodding somewhat at Lianna's explanation of how she trusted and admired Masamune, he didn't have much time to respond before Katalina dragged the blind prince into the room. "Speak of the devil," he commented with a chuckle. "Hey, Masamune. Looks like the princess caught you. You're her prisoner now," he said in a slightly teasing manner.

"Guest, Uncle! He's our guest! Get it right!" Katalina was pretty insistent in calling her new prisoner a guest, and the way he bravely drank the suger-infested tea was quite impressive. Donald III had once teased Katalina in that she sometimes added a bit of tea to her sugar, which was pretty close to accurate in this case.

"Right," he said with a nod, "Guest." The Emperor showed no reaction at all as Katalina climbed into his lap, used to this sort of behavior from her by now, and sipped at the tea that Lianna had given him. He wasn't particularly worried about her adding any toxins to it, despite the rumor of Glacian assassination tactics, as he himself was immune to poison thanks to his blood cops. "It'll be dinner time soon," the Emperor noted.

"Dinner?" the young princess was somewhat excited. "Make sure to drink all that tea before dinner, Prince Masamune! Don't let it go to waste!"

[Cosmic Fury]

For a brief moment, Masamune felt the sugar hit his brain like a bat out of hell. While his expression showed absolutely nothing, it was clear that he was already starting to feel the effects of Katalina's very eccentric behavior. He even laughed at the Emperor's comment about being a prisoner, but didn't so much as toss an out-of-place word out there.

"The tea is sweet." Masamune decided to at least be honest about that remark. "Thank you for, er, bringing me over. I really do appreciate the company. It's very refreshing to have the pleasure of new faces. Usually, my guards aren't all that talkative, and my relatives are about the only ones I can talk to. Wouldn't you say so, too, Lianna?"

Masamune's cousin was perplexed that he knew she was there. Isn't he blind? Or did he actually recognize my voice from all the way down the hall? Either way, it was an unsettling possibility. Blind people did have enhanced senses other than sight, but she still hadn't quite gotten used to the fact that Masamune tended to abuse this fact to the max. Still, she didn't skip a beat, either. "Indeed. Despite what we may have heard of the Imperium's war-like habits in the past, it is quite a charming place."

"Yes, and the people make the place." Masamune deliberately nodded, looking in Katalina's direction in order to shoot a hidden compliment her way. "Although, I didn't expect you to have such robust tastes for your drinks. They really do pack a punch."

Having said that, he boldly took another swallow of the tea, even though his taste buds (being used to more mild flavors) were already in open revolt against their owner. "If tea times are always this exciting, I really do look forward to dinner."

[Holeypaladin]

Katalina beamed brilliantly as the prince spoke of how exciting and robust her tea was, taking it as a compliment even though the Emperor knew that he clearly had intended a very different meaning to these words. "Did you hear that, Uncle?" she asked out loud, "Prince Masamune likes the tea! And he's looking forward to dinner! I simply must cook a special dish, just for him!" Peering over to the prince, she gave a nod of affirmation. "Yes... something delicious! I know just the thing!"

The Emperor chuckled in amusement at the princess' words. Masamune definitely had no idea the door he had just unlocked... one needn't be a quantum slipstream engineer to realize that Katalina's taste in food was every bit as dessert-focused as her taste in tea, and now that the prince had praised her, he'd end up eating some side dish or dessert for dinner with more sugar in it than an equal volume of sugar.

"I'm sure he'll love whatever it is, so long as you're the one he makes it," he said in amusement as he hugged the girl in his lap. Really, he was looking forward to seeing how well the prince would handle it.

"I'm making enough for everyone too, of course," she said the words that suddenly condemned everyone to a similar fate. Shooting an accusatory glance in the direction of the Glacian prince, Donald III was somewhat glad that he couldn't see the look on his face... though Lianna could, no doubt.

Returning his attention the foreign princess briefly, he spoke, "You must be familiar with the feminine virtues of the Achenaran culture. It is only natural that our buildings should be as graceful and beautiful as our young princesses," he hugged Katalina closer to demonstrate, causing an adorable smile to form on the girl's face. "I have no love for war, even if I am pretty good at it." It wasn't a threat or omen, simply a statement of fact... an understatement, at that. His success in recent wars spoke for itself, after all.

[Cosmic Fury]

"I'm having to watch what I eat, lately." Masamune put forth the single most clever idea he'd had all day. "I know it's a bit surprising, but I'm a somewhat religious person, as is Lianna over here. I do not want to go against my conscience and over-indulge on sweets -- I only tend to indulge myself more than normal on certain religious holidays, and other noteworthy occasions."

Knowing that leaving any unwanted open ends might offend the younger of his two hosts, he decided to toss another key comment or two in. Knowing this, he gave off a winning smile before he continued. "If dinner is only mildly sweetened, though, I am sure that I will not end up going overboard if I eat my fill."

This flimsy excuse wasn't enough, though, so he decided to toss in an ace-in-the-hole. "But, if my brothers were invited here, they'll be able to eat to their hearts' content. I'm sure coming here and enjoying dinner with us is nothing they can't handle." He shot a pensive look over to Lianna, as if he was challenging her to stay and gut it out with him.

However, Lianna did the smart thing by simply keeping quiet. She knew by now that when her younger cousin got an idea into his head and followed through with it, it tended to be a good one, even if it was mildly sadistic.

But really, religious convictions? That's an interesting one, even for you. She knew that Masamune was a bit of a spiritually-inclined person, but she never knew that he was willing to use it as a tool. I guess everything is fair game for you, huh? Lianna saw, though, that Masamune wasn't quite done with his efforts to make at least one more person suffer along with him.

"Lianna, would you be so kind as to send a message to my brothers? I'm sure that dinner prepared by Princess Katalina herself would be something to die for." The expression on his face was filled with such "innocence" that it almost made Lianna gag. "They're not very religious people, so they'll be able to easily eat as much as Katalina sets out for them."

Masamune kept his not-so-innocent expression. Game, set, start!