Scene #7748: Ilenjeh-Algwyll Pact

Owner	Pose
Undivided Queens	By strangely* popular request, there is a return to the capital city of the Algwyll (now -Ilenjeh, portmanteau as of yet undecided) Empire-- which nobody was ever actually prohibited from being around, but the nature of what they wanted to know was something that Seilatiya (correctly) felt could only really be done by the other pair of hands. The big strong hands that belong to her bigger stronger half. Isahane awaits in person, roughly at the border of what would be the capital's halfway radius, off of one of the main routes given over to, ostensibly, Seilatiya inventing leyline-powered trams. Dressed predominantly in a white, black, and red geometric-patterned shawl, loose and flowing pants wrapped below the knee, and various bracelets beads and braids, she cuts a slightly different figure than out at unfamiliar worlds, but is still unmistakable, standing head and shoulders taller than the crowd, at least a quarter of which is head and shoulders taller than the rest, because they appear to resemble her. At this point, the 'tour' is much closer to the inner capital, where the verticality reaches the borders of plausibly historical grand pagodas, shrines, and castle mansions, and then exceeds that into the fantasy realm further in. Much of what is here though has a significantly, though not quite dramatically, different style. Many lots suitable for a small apartment complex are given over to high-raised dwellings with many steps, steep roofs, smoke stacks, and an overwhelming preference for heavy wooden construction with elaborate carpentry and painting. Between public circles and commons, many places that probably originally held a glut of statues have been converted to what you'd guess are totems-- that is, in the classical, meaningful sense of the word, and not 'carved art'. Small animals wander around freely, from cats to peacocks to colourful lizards. A much larger percentage of the people you see on the street are clearly not of the Imperial breed either; you'd seen plenty of them in the other quarters, and even out on the farmland, but the concentration is probably triple here. They share common elements of clothing, tattooing, darker skin, and seemingly random, minor cosmetic features that aren't human. However, the rest of the construction here is clearly much older, and much more on the 'classical' side than the outer quarters, evoking again that strange yet suitable Chinese-Roman fusion. There appears to be no particular zoning whatsoever. Isahane meets you in front of an old statue base, clearly smashed once, because it's been glued back together with something like silver kintsugi, which hosts a statue of herself, in what looks like a slightly more crude and plain version of her 'Steel Dragon' armour, and what is undeniably Seilatiya (though perhaps younger) wearing a long shawl and braided circlet and carrying a bow, both riding on something like a bipedal lizard with a long and tapered cranial horn next to her. Rather than a dramatic horse-rearing-saber-pointing motion, the statue seems to just depict the two riders talking. "I've heard your curiosity still isn't sated! Very well! It can't be helped that you'd naturally be fascinated by me!" Isahane laughs.
Flamel Parsons	Has Flamel Parsons altered his way of handling this? No! Not even one bit. He hasn't abandoned his hazard suit and seems to be sticking with it for looking into the Empire and its cognitive perfections. Seilatiya's psychic gardening has been fully approved (albeit Parsons does want to run a direct mental inspection), but it's still a place where mental cultivation is going on, and so he's in the kind of suit that would make someone assume he's here to investigate a bioweapon attack -- though now it's decorated with what looks like shimmery purple gardening equipment and a few strands of psychically-receptive plants. Even this thin-man-ass motherfucker is only coming up to Isahane's shoulders! Dang! He's still got his scanners too, the ones that make "WOOOOOooooOOOOoooOOOO" noises at everything, as if everything's radioactive. He sweeps it over the statue, regards it, and smiles. He likes the atmosphere around here! Big fan. "Mhm! We got some mental, 'economic', and even some health and living-standards insights before! But I heard there were lots more questions for you, and I'm always interested in picking up answers to that sort of thing!"
Brooklynn Bailey	A lot has happened since the last tour, and right now Brooklynn was sort of far more introspective than she had been last time. It's not that she was disinterested in what was around her, in fact, quite the opposite, but she would spend far less time outgoing or asking questions. She was far more inspective and observing, perhaps trying to listen instead of talk? She takes in the change upon entering this part of the city, which is striking compared to what they had seen before now. Though she was taken by the statue for a moment, depicting them talking instead of a more action-based moment. Perhaps it was the idea of communication overdramatic action? Signifying how the empire was reinforced rather than how it could have been..? It takes her a moment to snap out of it, as Isahane greets them. "Well, it's hard not to be, given how much of a figure you are here.." she speaks, though considers the statue again, almost lost in her own thoughts.
Cantio	The first time Cantio visited the Algwyll Empire, it was to see what a more perfect empire might look like. She took notes on what she saw, and the ideas she gathered from Seilatiya gave her quite a lot to think about! Now, however, she's here on a slightly more somber note. With Isahane leading the way through a less fanciful looking area than last time, however, Cantio still looks focused as ever as she clutches a tablet to her heart. She's wearing her usual white and purple getup that's not going to be winning her any fashion awards anytime soon, but at least it keeps her easily recognizable. "Of course, Miss Isahane. To bring together an empire like this requires more..." She pauses, clearly trying to think up the right words. "... Firmness and not just great intentions. I was hoping to find out how you handled situations like rebellions, talk of secession, if any outside forces tried to cause one of those things to happen." There's another pause as she shifts around uncomfortably, then forces a smile and a less anxious voice. "And how did you get as strong as you did, anyway? Was it just through constant training, something relating to your creation, a... Artifact or something?"
Candy	Candy is dressed simply. Leather riding boots, slacks in a subdued, earthen brown, and his usual work shirt--this one a nice burgundy--unbuttoned as always. No hat today! Just dark, shoulder-length hair and an innocent smile. If the cats, lizards and peacocks are amenable, he's free and easy with pets. Looking up from his appreciation of wandering animals, he wrinkles his nose playfully at Isahane. "I guess it can't," he says, looking over his shoulder at Flamel's cacophony of instruments. "Some people more than others, ah?" Thumbing his chin in amusement, he makes some use of that imitation-Phony telekinesis to tug at and confuse those funky gadgets of Flamel's, offering a 'who-me?' look if the thin man catches on. "Candelario Maria Estevez de la Fuente," he says, thumbing his suspenders. He'd have taken a bit of a detour to get here, check out this part of town at his own speed, for a couple of reasons. One, to see how the Ilenjeh here seem to like things--if they're as happy as Seilatiya's people--and two, to see what passes for 'greeting gestures' around here. Whatever's appropriate, he'll throw it out there. "I can see why, though," he says teasingly after his little gesture of greeting, whatever shape it may take (a handshake is fine with him, absent any indication of something more appropriate). Twirling a lock of hair around a finger, "You'll indulge us, won't you?~"
Hiromi	Hiromi is here, traveling in the same manner (on the roof) and dressed as ever (mostly in furs, bronze, and twine). 'Of course,' would refer to both the fact of her presence and her answer to Isahane, though it comes out as more of an acknowledging grunt. She, herself, largely fits into that taller crowd, despite her posture being almost constantly, slightly hunched, padding barefoot over earth, stone, and tile with the same oddly quiet gait. "You, your pack, they're prepared." For what, she doesn't specify, but the nature of her interest in many peoples trends toward a common point, and it can be guessed. It's more friendly than a challenge to prove the worth of one's existence should be expected to be, but it's hard to say Hiromi's primary interest in matters of civilization is often otherwise. "I heard her speak. I'll hear you, now. How do they," Hiromi's gesture encompasses 'Isahane's people,' "live?" She'd already taken a look at the statue before getting this close to it, divining meanings that had been clear from her first conversation with the pair.
Persephone Kore	Phony seems to have almost as much of a way with animals as she does with people: she gets briefly distracted when she squats down and coos at a cat, and is swiftly mobbed by a half-dozen animals of various species all pining for attention. So really not different from humans at all! Ahaha~ When she finally tags along to meet up with Isahane, she's cradling an entire fifteen-pound peacock in her arms and gently scratching the back of its head. It seems disconcerted by how okay it is with this. Fascinated by her? "Haha, is there anyone who's not?" Phony smiles her utterly earnest eyes-shut smile. Even when she's looking that far up, any shot of Persephone is still spiritually a low-angle shot. "But when I heard we were going to learn more about your people, I imagined we'd be meeting you somewhere else! What are we here to see, Hana?" Of course, her eyes are drawn to the statue's silver kintsugi while others exchange pleasantries and greetings. If something's broken, it always has a story. If it's broken and fixed, it has two! So tell me, pretty statue: "Why are you the way that you are?"
Undivided Queens	Isahane catches Brooklynn eyeing the statue immediately. Her grin widens in a slightly knowing, slightly smug, slightly approving way, showing where her teeth get very sharp. "I see you appreciate it. These kinds of choices have vindicated me every day since making them." She points towards the seemingly younger rendition of the pair. "Seila spent four years with us. Barely what you call a teenager at the time. By the time we crossed paths, half the men who had followed her were already dead. Our chieftain and most of the elders at the time intended to leave them. I argued that the intentions of the spirits couldn't be any more obvious; that it was fate. The dispute went on through the night. I challenged him in the morning, and won his place that same day. Do not be fooled excessively by her frivolous mannerisms; Seila earned her place as an honourary Ten'ro clanswoman with ease. To enjoy the life she does now is her privilege." But she goes on to clap her knuckles against the shattered base. "What used to be here was far uglier. However, I had each of these re-assembled just like this. It's a form of our art. That even damage and destruction is part of history --a thing's or a person's-- and should not be hidden or erased." Persephone finds that it's exactly as Isahane says. At one point, a very old rendering in bronze stood here, of an armour and saddled Imperial war hero from centuries ago, commemorating a great victory over 'the tribes'. It'd been stood and been appreciated by cultured people of pedigree for a very long time, before being violently blown to pieces by-- maybe a cannon? The gleaming metals have Seilatiya's touch on them, but the sculpture itself is the diligent craft of a famed Ilenjeh artisan, and the silver lacquer done by his wife. Candy playing around with the animals finds out that they are not, in fact, domesticated. They are more akin to 'human apathetic', like city pigeons or farm cats. This also makes them very not-hard for Persephone to aggressively Snow White at. Isahane answers the both of them at once. But first she answers one of Candy's unspoken questions just by greeting him, touching her opposite shoulder with one arm in such a fashion that displays the double bands of white tattooing on her upper and lower arm (actually, if he looks closely, he can see where a complex pattern has been etched around the sculpted Seilatiya's bared upper arm on one side). "Isahane Dragon-Eater. As long as you are a friend of Seila's, you are an ally of mine." Then she says "To truly learn the history of the Ilenjeh people, hands-on, one would have to venture very far west, where it would be very unsafe for you. I was asked how my people live here." Making one of those 'follow me' gestures, she starts walking up the street, at a pace only Hiromi would really comfortably follow on height and gait alone (who does, in fact, actually kinda blend in).
Staren	While Staren is perhaps most interested in Seilatiya's work and what she's done for society, how can anyone interested in that not be interested in who she's partnered with and their way of doing things? Now that she knows it's more of an informal visit, Staren's not trying to look dramatic or anything, and just re-wears something close to what she ended up in last time, with the black turtleneck, the labcoat folded and tied around her waist, and the round non-prescription glasses. If the animals come close, Staren's happy to pet them a bit, although they're not what she's here to focus on. Though she does try to talk to the first one that approaches her, just to check. You never know! The statue... interesting choice. Staren suspects it's significant that it's not a typical dramatic pose, but not exactly sure how. Isahane is imposing. Any tense or withdrawn-ness on Staren's part begins to relax when Isahane laughs like that, and of course, Persephone's aura. She smiles as she sees other familiar people! Also, Flamel is in the hazmat suit again... wait. "Hey, I wore a suit on your world and you said that doesn't actually protect from psychic stuff! So what gives with this one?? Do you just like the 'Nothing to worry about citizen, certainly no dangerous chemical spills' aesthetic?" Staren can't help but find Phony getting mobbed by animals amusing. "Aww... does your aura make them feel the same way?"
Persephone Kore	<J-IC-Scene> Flamel Parsons describes, in outrageously academically concise terms, the psycological heritage of caretaker-type fixation, both its positive roots and its abuse-centric roots. It's so comprehensive as to almost completely cut off any confusion! <J-IC-Scene> Flamel Parsons says, "Hope this helps!" Persephone very gently, yet firmly, places a telekinetic hand over Flamel's mouth. It stays there just until she can catch her breath again.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel's been tweaking and adjusting his instruments, because he just can't filter out that weird distortion! He does once glance at Candy, but seems to take Candy's innocence at face value. Candy's brain is armored like a tank, remember? So Flamel can't read some of the usual telepathic subtext! Still, he can answer Staren's questions. He briefly takes the entire headpiece off to wipe his brow, and then puts it back on. "Oh, yeah! Like I said, a strong mind is the only part that matters. But, wouldn't you know it, there's no vague yet menacing state organizations in this empire! So I can't cop their style. I have to make do with this, instead. You see, since the state isn't vague yet menacing, then the things I'm handling can be vague yet menacing. I can keep my atmosphere!" Still fiddling with his little sensors, he follows along with Isahane. He has to keep pace with her strides by levitating!
Brooklynn Bailey	Brook is more or less snapped out of her introspection as Isahane explains the statue better. She eats the story up, listening to it and how Seila became an honorary member of Isahane's clan. It was there in the story that the conflict in Brook really comes out into her head. Seila has seemed to remedy the desire to be strong with compassion. Whereas in Brook the storm between needing to be a good leader is clashing with the charity that her existence is wrapped around. Could she be both Charity AND a leader..? Well yes, but could she be the leader her people need. A strong leader...a just leader? Charity, love...could it exist with the demands a leader has placed on them? And how does Seila handle these conflicts, these contradictions so easily? It causes her to go much more mute again, only to be snapped out of it by the conversation started by Flamel, who is then silenced by Persephone. After time trying to not laugh or flush with embarrassment, she sighs, "You're really something else, Mr. Parsons..." Though once they are moving again, her mind just wonders back to that conflict. The contradiction that was born in her head. Swirling around a very important question. One there thanks to Hiromi. 'Was she the right person to rule? Was she strong enough..? Was Charity holding her back? Or was she just not good enough to be able to do both?
Undivided Queens	"Centuries ago, the Ilenjeh were one people, and lived on this land. The predecessors to the Imperial people arrived from the north, from over the ocean. For a time, there was only trade between our people. But once they had their runeciphers, that changed." She very audibly uses a loanword there. The mind readers get the impression that the native word for a runecipher is probably something deeply negative. "Permanent trade settlement of the shores became permanent habitation, then expansion. They saw the land that our people had kept for countless generations and were shocked by its abundance. More of their people flooded in from overseas, year by year, chasing their 'promised land'. They cut, ploughed, dug, hunted, built, and spread until they overflowed our old borders, and conflict became inevitable. And futile. Because, eventually, my ancestors found that the old country they came from was enormous, and there were twenty of them for each of ours, eager to begin new lives, and paid handsomely to fight" "My ancestors were driven further and further west, away from the ancestral lands we had cultivated for so long, and into the inhospitable lands no one would claim before. Splintered into the mountains, the salts, the raging shore, and the rainforests. Long before I had any dream of--" Isahane spreads her arms out as she walks "--all of this, I dreamed of uniting them into one people again. I did so by force of arms where force of personality and grand promises would not. But because of crossing destinies with Seila, it became possible in the end without a war." "What was war was the day Seila gained the bravery to return home. When she could ignore it no longer. That her people still seethed with rage that their princess had been driven away, but lacked both voice and power to change those who ruled them instead. That kind of opportunity never comes again. So placing my faith in the guidance that brought Seila to me, I took my people to the borders of the Empire, and we were joined from the very first day by those loyal to her. Our 'alliance', our pact, was forged not on paper in a time of peace, but on the very first day of that campaign, and it grew day by day, by every mile." "Of course, not all, or even most, of my people settled in the capital. Many are spread all throughout the Empire, and many still dwell in their birthplaces to the west. But every single Ilenjeh warrior who fought in that campaign, and their long-families, were granted a place here. The reason you see so much of this traditional building is because Seila understood, and left the matter of 'what must be done in war' to myself, and I decided what must be done with the old things which represented those who betrayed her, was to be turned into places that served those who fought with us instead." She makes a self-satisfied kind of snorting sound. "And by building upon the scorched earth, I made certain that there are only so many families per city unit. That there may be no enclaves, or 'Ilenjeh district', and that there should be no Algwyll without an Ilenjeh neighbour. You understand, yes?" "Though we live all throughout the capital, this ring was once the realm of the guard, the treasury, the garrison, and the aristocratic. Each of these is given to one long-family; a single hand of a clan. Three degrees from the warrior. Their totem is given a place nearby. A third of the temples and shrines here are our own; the Ilenjeh do not worship the Algwyll goddess as a goddess, but there has long been loose theological agreement that she embodies the Imperial kameiy; their nation-spirit, and so for bringing us to our homelands again, she is worthy of veneration as well. I have spent many years with the most stubborn of our spiritual leaders to see it in this way."
Staren	These kinds of choices have vindicated me every day since making them. Staren vaguely feels vindicated-by-proxy, suspecting that maybe it isn't unlike some of her own choices lately, compared to how she used to think she had to do things. She listens to the story with interest. Damage and destruction is part of someone's history too, huh? She remembers being surrounded by a burning building, massacreing wedding guests until an anti-elite security team showed up to drive her off. They were all mobsters, each and every one, who'd hurt innocent people and would keep hurting innocent people, and Staren pushed down the sense of wrongness, shut up her feelings and multiplied. If there's hope for me, then others with stains upon their soul need to know there's hope for them too. Staren nods to Flamel's explanation. When he puts it like that, it makes sense! The hazmat suit certainly is vague yet menacing. When Isahane moves on too fast for Staren's little legs to comfortably keep up with, there's a soft, blue-white glow from the soles of her boots and she glides along just above the ground, moving much as if her boots had invisible rollerblade wheels attached.
Candy	'Dragon-Eater'...! He can imagine it. When he returns her gesture of greeting, she can see a long, old scar along his forearm. "So you won fair and square," he concludes. But it's never that neat and tidy, is it? There's always people that liked the old way better. Candy finds his way near Phony and Staren. Flamel will find that once he does, the mysterious interference with his instruments also stops. Correlation doesn't always equal causation, and, indeed--there is that formidable mental resistance of his--but the mischievous waggle of his fingers towards Flamel does rather cast suspicion on Candy being the culprit. Following Isahane, he goes for the advanced double hand hold--one for Staren, one for Phony. Sure enough, Isahane provides the context he was looking for--the reason why some Ilenjeh stay far from this place. "Yes," he says with an eager nod. He understands. "So if there's no 'Ilenjeh district,' how come so many Ilenjeh live out west, where everything's fucked and dangerous?" Tilting his head, "I mean, room is one thing, but... you make it sound like it's a long ways away from here, them badlands."
Undivided Queens	"In the Capital, at least, our lives are not so different. Our people are proud, not stupid; few would stubbornly resist the blessings of our own ancestral land, and insist upon scarcity and hard labour for its own sake. We carry on our traditions without the threats of the west. However, though most of the duties between Seila and I overlap, the privileges of our people separate in the same place. The Ilenjeh maintain sole ownership of the Hunter's Union, form the only 'police' that the Capital has need of, and the core of the Imperial garrison. You can guess why, yes? Why it is the Ilenjeh who watch, and protect, the Capital." She stops at a plaza before what looks like a sort of huge lodge, practically an entire college, rather unnecessarily raised up off the ground, with stairs that would make the grandest of ancient shinto temples side-eye it. The sounds of what is undoubtedly martial training come from inside, as well as the splash of water, the scrabbling of rock, and the cheers of crowds behind. Land given to it is in turn given over to pens of young animals, but most of them are completely unrecognizable as anything earthly, and most look certainly of the 'monstrous' bent. An entire convoy of wagons is being pulled in, namely to carry the fresh corpse of some kind of armoured . . . snake? Worm? It's easily the length of a train. There's a festival-like air about it as the riders pulling it are welcomed back. But Isahane turns to Cantio instead. To make her look in the eyes, she pokes her right beneath the chin to turn her face up. "There have been no rebellions, since the joining of our people. There is no hating Seilatiya, and there is no questioning my right to lead. There were those reluctant to believe, but they cannot withstand that girl's compassion, they cannot go against our people's wishes for the ancestral land, and they cannot go against me." "There is no artifact. This runecipher is mine, but it is a gift of Seilatiya's. Very few are able to handle a runecipher of twelve facets. I am strong because I learned seriously from our elders, I trained relentlessly each day, I hunted for my family, then fought for our clan, and then took the entire Ilenjeh people's fate upon my shoulders. I am strong because I sought the greatest of foes to sustain this mortal flesh of mine. I am strong because I sought the greatest of wars to fight for the greatest of causes. I am strong because I carry the greatest weight of all. I am strong because I carry the most hopes of anyone. I am strong because I have given the most trust of anyone." Her tone relaxes back into smug, shark-toothed grinning. "Or are you another one asking about my horns? My title?"
Hiromi	Hiromi looks at the peacock. Among the things she knows of this bird are its tough meat, lacking the fattiness humans tend to favor, and the strength of its loud cries, which at least one farmer has compared to 'women and children screaming, but more primal.' As long as it's kept strangely* calm, there's no issue. A peculiarity of Hiromi's nature allows her to know the meaning of words. And yet, she often finds that they do not hold their meaning, when they mean anything at all. So it is that she comments aside to Persephone, "Many children, you have them?" With that, Hiromi follows after Isahane. "'Unsafe,'" she repeats, in a tone the latter may recognize. That's a challenge, alright. But for now, "Living, that's 'my interest.' 'How do you live?' Past, future, concern for these, later." But she listens to the tales of the past, regardless, if only to see what it makes of this present. "'Building upon the scorched earth.' What's this?" No, she doesn't understand it, neither the problem, nor its solution.
Undivided Queens	Replying to Candy again, Isahane says "Many are simply attached to the lands they know. They are harsh, but they are home. They feel that, because their ancestors went through such great pain to make them a little more livable with each generation, it would be disrespectful to them to abandon it. There are those who feel a . . . compulsion, to stay where they grew up, and husband that land, as we did here centuries ago, until even the west is green as well." She shrugs. "It is a noble goal. It was even tempting for myself as well, at one point. I see no reason to stop them. They are welcome into the Imperial territory at any time. In fact, we travel west to see them often, and they to us. But it is true that the capital is at the heart of the ancestral land, and there are many smaller cities, towns, villages, before one reaches the border, the badlands, and the western lands beyond." "It is said that there are three million souls in the capital alone. Five hundred thousand are Ilenjeh. Throughout the empire, there are many places where the Ilenjeh to Algwyll number higher, and many places the Ilenjeh people have simply re-settled for themselves. Four in five families moved east."
Brooklynn Bailey	"Do you know how she..." a pause.. "How she reconciles being a strong leader with the compassion she obviously shows?" Brooklynn finally musters up the strength to ask a hard question, not because it's harsh towards the empress here, but rather because it's something she can't wrap her head around. "To rule, you need the strength to make sure that weakness does not cause you to make the wrong call. To let it fester into increased weakness.." She looks towards Hiromi. "But she gives of herself to her people as well, sharing with them.." "It's similar to what I am. Charity...or love for others how it's told in what I believe. I know it is what it is..." she sighs. "I know that you can't be light on everyone, and that overly pampering the people won't let them grow and be strong on their own...to be the kind of people that will be like how Phony is now.." "I can't figure out if the answer is obvious, that everyone else gets it, or that something is wrong with me that I can't see it," She finally admits. Looking at Isahane, "You obviously know her best, and are willing to not hold anything back," She says, obviously making it clear why she brings it up now.
Staren	Staren listens as the story continues. She has a basic enough idea of Earth's pre-apocalypse history to draw paralells between the described situation and events several centuries ago on her own continent. She's never been to a tribal settlement but knows some of them bear a grudge towards what passes for modern society even hundreds of years and an apocalypse later. So how'd things turn out so different here? She keeps listening. Staren nods at the comment about enclaves. What would Lazlo be like if people weren't surrounded by different intelligent species all the time? If there were, say, a 'devilman street' where all the d'norr lived and many people didn't encounter them outside? It's a good thing that-- Wait a minute. There is absolutely a concentration of poor people in the harbor districts and the apartment complexes built on the eastern edge of the city to house refugees from Tolkeen, and a concentration of rich people in the more upscale parts of the city. Are things already beginning to crack? Plato must have thought of this and be working on a solution, right? Right? Eventually, Candy speaking draws her out of her thoughts and she sees him holding out his hand and takes it.
Persephone Kore	Deep breath in, through her nose. Deep breath out, through her mouth. Phony hiccups once, but I don't want to have the hiccups!!, so there is no second one. Emotional center: successfully restored. "Isn't it wonderful?" she answers Staren, finally putting the peacock down and giving it a parting pat on the head before it runs off. "I wasn't really sure, you know. There aren't any animals at Sapient Heuristics, so I never got to try!" Hiromi calls for her attention as she straightens up, making her expression brighten innocently. Well, there's a lot of kids at Sapient Heuristics! We're not related, but they put me on a pedestal like that, don't they? And so she says in perfect earnestness: "Others have them, but I take a hand in it, you know! It's important the kids have someone to look up to." To keep up with Isahane, she drifts along in zero gravity at a lazy powerwalking kind of pace; even her hair flutters and flows weightlessly, though it periodically flickers and 'resets' itself back into her default haircut before beginning to flow again. (Floating also means she gets to subconsciously make herself exactly one inch taller than Isahane. That's important.) "'Every Algwyll has an Illenjeh neighbor'," Persephone repeats, her eyes drifting shut in peaceful contemplation as she drifts up beside the queen. "You want to make better people out of them, but you don't get to start with blank slates. Even their kids, if you didn't teach the parents better, might get bad ideas from family. So it's important to break those bad traits, isn't it? To give them special attention, and not just assume they'll go away on their own." "How well is that working, Isahane? What do those children think of their neighbors?"
Hiromi	Of the many things Hiromi is, an expert in war, in any conventional sense, she isn't, despite her otherwise significant martial leanings, and that topic passes by with little reaction. Far less, at least, than she gives for the monstrous animals and wagons and sounds of training. She doesn't ask anything, presuming that will soon be answered, regardless. Of the decision to move to greener lands or stay, Hiromi only says, "From over seas, or over mountains, some will seek more. When land's sparse, less cause for moving." There isn't a meaningful distinction, in her mind, between the causes of those seeking a promised land and those regaining an ancestral land. Brooklynn's question is acknowledged with a glance. It wasn't asked of her, but Hiromi still says, "With humans, 'something is wrong.'" She laughs, then, odd and low in sound, as if it were a joke. It wasn't.
Cantio	Cantio looks rather surprised when Isahane explains what had happened that led to the creation of the statue, looking over at it and taking a closer look now that her attention is directed that way. "I wasn't expecting that. I mean, it makes sense in that context, but..." She pauses, then closes her eyes with an odd noise in the back of her throat. It's the sort someone would make when something just clicks all of a sudden. "... Oh. Yeah. Okay, I can can see it. So the answer really might just be being more like her." She sounds a little anxious at that last part, then she turns to Isahane as she makes contact with the base. "Never hiding the ugliness outright. Just.. Rebuilding with it instead where it can do the most good. Maybe that's where I've been going wrong." She squats in place to run a hand over the statue's base as well, pausing briefly to watch the animals' different reactions to Candy and Persephone. Eventually, she gets up to follow Isahane, and she listens again as this empire's history is detailed from Isahane's perspective. Cantio pays particularly attention to how Isahane did it all, possibly even ducking when her arms go out. There's so much thinking to do, and way more notes to take in than her own hands can keep up with. She doesn't even get to finish all that note-taking by the time they reach the lodge, and she's outright startled when Isahane pokes her. She straightens up almost immediately, suddenly looking even more anxious at being 'forced' into making eye contact. At least Cantio's good at following implicit orders. "Eh?! O-oh. So they never even... Wow. That's two more areas to work on, then. Or..." She trails off as Isahane details just how much of her strength is her own doing, and that seems to have her shrinking back just a little bit more. Not physically, but definitely mentally. And then Isahane asks her that dangerous question, making all of Cantio's survival instincts kick into overdrive. "Wha... O-of course not! I wouldn't even think about that!" She stammers out, looking every bit the flustered beta girl before finally steeling herself (even while looking down briefly to compose herself). "Actually, I... I want to be more like you and Seilatiya. Someone that can command that kind of authority through power and compassion. Someone with a strong enough will that I could one day be worthy of a title like yours. Or... Horns?" That last part actually confuses her again. Cantio maintains eye contact for longer than she has this entire time, but it doesn't last as she rubs her head again with that anxiety creeping right back in. "Except when I've been trying to assert myself, I just keep messing up a lot. It's just making other people distrust what I'm doing, even if I'm trying to be a hard-" she lowers her voice briefly "-ass-" and then normally says "-than I usually am. Even my own people are starting to distrust me, and the ones in the most danger are the ones most likely to secede at the rate things are going. Is... Does it sound like there's any way I can fix that sort of problem without just letting them leave and cutting off a piece of my home?"
Staren	Brooklyn raises interesting questions about ruling. Staren sure was never suited for it. Still, even she can spot some things in Brooklyn's words. "Being nice to people and getting them to like you doesn't mean going light or 'pampering' them. Our worlds are harsh... It perhaps leads to some thinking that because the strong survive, everyone needs to be strong in the way that survives... That everyone has to 'pull their weight.' Setting aside how you even quantify that, don't some people pull their weight in ways besides being strong warriors who regularly make a show of martial power? If all her people feel their lives would be diminished without her, then everyone wants Seilatiya to stick around..." Staren looks at Brooklyn curiously. "Why do you want to be a leader? Do you feel you could do better than the current leader? Or do you feel you have to try, even if you don't know what you're doing, because they're such a bad leader?"
Candy	So they've already 'won,' them two. Already set things up the way they like it. 'Breaking habits' like Phony says. I'm not crazy about how that sounds... but this one, specific place doesn't seem like it's total bullshit. He's still going to keep an ear towards it--this is Mr. No Gods No Masters, after all. For now, he can just enjoy the tour and the company. Giving Star's hand a squeeze, "What do you think so far?" She tends to feel similarly to him, if not as extreme in her mistrust. "It sure seems like this is a good racket for the people here," he says, nodding downwards to indicate he means the capital itself. "Still thinking about getting an ass full of arrows, or dragon teeth, or whatever, wandering out west someday." Just to hear it told from someone other than one of the two queens, that is. From someone who remembers the way things were. He wrinkles his nose at Phony. "There's no animals at Sapient Heuristics yet. Invite me over sometime, I'll be all the animal them eggheads need," he suggests with a sly grin. Phony can then feel the presence of an invisible grasp, gently touching at her cheek, as he looks up at her. He has to look up all the time, but with her floating, it's more exaggerated. A question for Isahane. "There's nobody that'd go back to the way things were before, ah? Not saying that's a bad thing. But some people are, ah..." He frowns thoughtfully, searching for a word. "Stupid-minded, when it comes to figuring out 'I don't like how this is.'"
Staren	I am strong because... It's a litany that certainly makes an impression. Am I strong? Living the way I was was miserable. I get tired just thinking about it. I can't... carry everyone's hopes, even if someone has to. I try to carry the hopes of those who can't carry their own sometimes... but if I did it for all of them all of the time... There would be no 'me' anymore, just a vessel championing the hopeless... A golem animated by words from other people... Staren looks down at the street underfoot. I'm so selfish, for not getting closer to that at every opportunity. I'm a coward, wanting to be 'me' when I could be doing more. How many have died, because I didn't spend more time helping? 'I'd be stressed out and go insane if I gave more of myself' is a rationalization, I survived the stress of devoting myself to trying to be what Dark Me embodied. I could probably handle devoting myself to something much more worthy instead... But I'm scared, and weak. Staren doesn't say anything out loud, though her ears and tail kind of droop and her expression has fallen at that line of thought. A squeezed hand gets her attention again and she looks at Candy. "Huh?" She looks out at the city. "Oh, right. I guess outside the Concord people are more skeptical of this place... but I think it shows that people can be, on a societal level I mean, something less terrible to so many. I dunno how we can make other places like this..." then she smiles, "but as long as someone does I'll support them. And I'll do what I can to help others survive long enough to see the day when they can live this way."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel briefly peeks over his sunglasses at Candy, but decides to focus on his question instead. "Sometimes, justice isn't about really... getting the thing, it's about the option! If you're out in some inhospitable place called 'the salts', but you can go somewhere any time you want, on a fancy railway... Well, I mean, it kinda makes it more bearable, doesn't it? You're allowed to say, 'Screw it! I'm done with all this salt, I'm going to the capital!' You wouldn't believe how psychologically powerful it is to be able to have boundaries and things like that." He regards the environment, now, sweeping his view around it like he's vacuuming up all the atmosphere. It takes a while for him to settle on what he wants to say, before it finally comes out to: "This sounds a lot like an effort to heal collective trauma! I like it! That sort of thing can be some of the most dangerous psychohazards to fight, makes me happy to see you putting up such a big one!"
Undivided Queens	Hiromi has a rather specific and weighty question, so Isahane takes a bit of time to think about it. "To answer in full would take days. It is impossible to sum up an entire people's way of life in a sentence or two. Especially, I believe I only have the right to comprehensively answer for the Ten'ro people, and not all other Ilenjeh nations. But I will explain enough." "Men are wed to many women. Women wed many men. Strong children are necessary, and so many kinds of 'compatible blood' are used. Children know their parents, but are raised by the village. They are taught every skill and craft they need to survive in their first ten years, and choose and learn their trade by assisting their elders. All children train their bodies and senses every day, in games with each other, and out in the wilds with their elders. They learn their history and the important rites, the names and ways of the kameiy, and their knowledge of the wild, through stories. When they grow old enough to change, they enter the care of the herbalists and priestesses who will prepare them for coming of age." "Once they have finished growing, they are given an adult name, each one of which is unique and never repeated, and their first tattoos, which tell of their heritage and status and contain the character-pattern of each parent. Then, once they are fully prepared, they are given a pack and weapons, and sent out to seek one of the 'towers of the gods' far from the village. There, they will seek the audience of the kameiy, and if they are worthy, one will appear to them, and teach them its ways. They are whispered the secrets of the beast that best suits them, and they learn to make its power their own; it becomes their heart-spirit. Then they return home, and are deemed adults. Their heart-spirit is added to their tattoos." "All Ilenjeh people can hunt, fashion tools, use herbs, and appease the spirits, but they choose that which to pursue most. They formally apprentice, then are initiated, and their trade and mentor are added to their tattoos as well. They live difficult lives in extreme lands, competing with fierce beasts that, too, were driven from the ancestral lands, by the first nation-spirits of humans, and so hate humans as well. They trade with one another, resolve disputes with their warriors, and cooperate to prepare for great disasters, hunt the most fearsome of prey, or take in those whose villages have fallen. At least once in their lives, they make a pilgrimage to a holy site in the salt desert, of which I will say nothing more. Cooperating with the spirits is of paramount importance. We shared in exile from the lands blessed by the great nation-spirits, and it is the duty of all Ilenjeh people to make new bridges with the kameiy of the west, so that they may learn of human generosity and patience, and bring back spirits of nature, and not visit spirits of wrath. An Ilenjeh hunter who kills a mother with cubs will make them his own until maturity."
Undivided Queens	The skills they must learn depend entirely on the environment in which they must live. All villages have their chieftain who makes decisions about that which affects the village, who is advised by the wisest elders who record our history and knowledge and spend their later years learning to tattoo, and at least one holy woman, who oversees births and marriages and divines the desires of the spirits. All are within a certain distance of a 'tower of the gods', for they must be to survive. All know war, and it has long been custom to keep the Empire in check at its borders, and sack whatever was seen fit; as there could be no 'stealing' from land stolen from us. Their tattoos record their deeds, their marriages, children, pilgrimages, and blessings given unto them." "Little has changed in so short a time, save how few children now die. Now it is also the Ilenjeh people who protect our ancestral lands as well. From the north and the east. Those who see our new pact, and are filled with envy and fear. Does that satisfy you for now?" Finally, she gets to take a breath for a little, and answer Persephone more simply, as she goes walking off again, towards the tallest, most robust-looking buildings leading up to what must be the center of the city. "Children are, if nothing else, very good at drawing their own conclusions, when allowed. They naturally want to roam free, push boundaries, and test what they've been told. As long as they are not surrounded by an overwhelming, dogmatic consensus, they discover the truth on their own. We have come a long way in seven years. I am not Seilatiya --I cannot read their hearts and win them over with my compassion alone-- but I feel that I know them, and I see the way their houses play together." A pause. "And for their elders, I will be clear with you. It is good that there was a war. Because of that, the Algwyll people of today were able to fight side by side with my people, of their own choice and volition, and share a common enemy that embodied all of their past grudges, both. The defeat of a shared enemy, to shed blood for each other, is a remarkable way to show sincerity to one another."
Persephone Kore	Phony's eyebrows lift in delighted disbelief when her cheek's telekinetically pinched. She laughs, letting the feeling linger for just a moment- and then playfully contests it with her own, perfectly countervailing every ounce of pressure in Candy's ghostly touch. It feels a little bit like holding hands in a new way. ---- Her expression becomes a little more somber as she looks over to Staren. I can't tell how 'strong' or 'weak' anyone is next to other people, she says in that silent language, each word-idea tugging subtly on Staren's heart. Everyone's a world in themselves. It's like comparing Venus to Mars! But I promise, you're stronger now than you ever were before. You're taking care of yourself instead of tearing yourself apart. You're admitting your limitations instead of being too scared to ever show them. She gives Staren a rueful little smile behind Candy's back, then winks. It's okay if you're still not as strong as you want to be. But if you keep nurturing yourself like this, I promise you'll get there. Didn't they say that on Flamel's airplane? Persephone says out loud, inscrutable to anyone else: "'Make sure your own oxygen mask is secure before helping others.'" She laughs a reassuring kind of laugh.
Undivided Queens	Weaving back to 'scorched earth' for just a minute, Isahane puts it to Hiromi in the simplest terms she can. "We destroyed everything that represented our enemy, in battle, or after. Because it was we who triumphed, we took the land that it was built upon, and it was used to make our people happy instead. No ruins left. No memorials. No reminders of those who lost. The stronger people continue on." Which brings her to Cantio. "Hahaha! High goals! Honourable ones, too. It's only natural. But let me say this. I am much more like Seila than I once was, and she is much more like me than she once was, but I cannot be her, and she cannot be me, and you cannot be both of us at once. No one would trust Seilatiya's earnest wishes if she were the same warrior as I, and no one would trust my decisions in craft and trade and war if I were the same innocent goddess as she. You cannot be both beloved and assertive by trying to be a beloved person and an assertive person at the same time. No matter how hard you pull, if it's in two different directions, you will only make your hands tired, and look like a fool. You are one woman, and can only be one person, so that person must naturally walk a path that can be adored and admired for the same reason." Roughly continuing the topic, she replies to Brooklynn too. "Charity is a virtue that cannot exist without plenty. When there is not enough to give, giving it is not charity, but self-sacrifice. Merely shifting and redistributing the amount of suffering within the village. Self-sacrifice is encouraged by the old Empire, because it suits those who have too much that those who have too little simply choose amongst themselves who starves, in a 'virtuous' manner. Charity is to decide that someone deserves more, and to have them find it." "Seila's heart is an endless ocean, that can fit all people within it at once. She is generous beyond generosity. And it is difficult to be that way precisely because she has limitless wealth, and limitless love, to give. But she is not weak. Or soft. She is not me, but precisely because she knows people better than they know themselves, she knows what it is that drives them to be wrong, and in need of righting. Because she loves them, she never doubts anything that will give them what they need, even if it may seem hurtful. 'Softness', 'pampering', does not exist when you love your people; it only exists when you are sacrificing for your people. When you have to draw a line of how much of your sacrifice they deserve." "It is her belief . . . 'Nobody deserves to be poor'. It is an absolute of hers. That suffering does not build character. Pain does not build empathy. That they're lies we tell each other to cope with them. I, too, believe that people must be challenged if they are to grow, but being damaged is not growth itself; it is history. A scar is a sign you survived, not that you are a more complete person. Before you have the right to worry about how hard to push your people, first you must secure everything they deserve."
Staren	Staren wasn't thinking at Persephone, but she's swiftly reminded Persephone is 'listening' as her thoughts intrude. You're... you're right. The appearance of strength was a facade built over weakness instead of either fixing problems or learning to compensate for them. I guess others could see that, in a way. Perhaps that was part of why I was disliked: For being a phony. (Not a Phony. You're cool! But I don't like calling you that... You're not a phony in any way! If anything, aren't you more real than most?) What was I thinking about again? Oh. Right. Yes, you're right. Past me couldn't deny that what is built now has a stronger foundation. Thank you, Pho--Persephone. (You've almost got me doing it despite myself!) She nods along at Persephone's comment, understanding the context. 'Remove the speck from thine own eye first, brother.' A mis-remembered quote heard from a relative as a child surfaces from distant, hazy memories.
Brooklynn Bailey	"I have to try because our current leadership is putting their needs above others. They are afraid of what would happen if we threw in behind the Concord completely, that we would be beholden to them and lose our ability to self govern because we would owe too much to them...or be influenced by their policy." Brooklynn listens because right now it was all she could do. However, there is something in those words. She didn't consider it...but it was true. Her scars were there, it twisted how she looked at the world, at her people, and led them. She was worried that she needed to share those scars but... It's damage. The memories of how she was shaped into what she was. They were a part of her, but it wasn't what was /needed/. Hiromi said this to her as well, did she not? That it wasn't damage that people needed but strength. Her people needed...they needed more than she could give them right now. The Concord was a start she realized. She...they could start the healing there. She needed to spread her love, wrap those people in it...she had to protect them from the scars she faced, and make sure they could heal their own. The horrors of the Iconoclasm lasted, and with others with power like hers.. No that was it. She was afraid of what she was...they were afraid of her, not because of who she was but what that thing brought on them. She had to do more...she had to throw the Iconoclasm back. "Thank you...I think I understand," She says with firmness to her voice. No, it was more like she had, for the first time, gained her voice. "Phony, we...I need your help...Mr. Parsons, you too. I think I realized the issue, and what needs to be done."
Staren	There's a lot going around that Staren has thoughts about, that's for sure! Brooklyn and Cantio both remind her of her own feeling she had to reach for that... She really wants to give Cantio a hug after hearing that. There was some reason not to, but it slides off her brain under Persephone's aura, so she lets go of Candy's hand for a moment, skates to a stop next to Cantio, and hugs. "Maybe that's not who you are. You don't have to be a hardass or a leader if you don't know how. Your friends and the Concord will love you anyway." "That town... you don't have to protect it alone. Others can handle it. Seeking their approval, when they don't like you in the first place..." Staren steps back from the hug, and scratches her own head while offering an awkward grin, "That can mess a girl up, you know?" Staren rests her elbow in her palm while tapping her chin thoughtfully, trying to organize thoughts into words. "What she said, and also, if you want approval? Look, I dunno why, but I can tell you from experience: Being me instead of" piloting the Archetype "trying to be someone else has, for some reason, made me a lot more-liked. Even among people who I absolutely don't get along with at all," why DID I ever care what Lilian thought when I was Hand?! "even freaking Lilian Rook seems to respect me marginally more" she holds up her hand with index finger and thumb a centimeter apart, "even though I'm not constantly reminding everyone that I've survived in the Multiverse for over a decade and that I command firepower that could level a city block in an instant!" Staren shrugs, "I dunno why, but I can empirically say it works!" Also, Brooklyn's having her own realizations here. "That's right, you don't have to figure it all out alone! We're here for you, together we can help your people!"
Undivided Queens	Isahane nods vigorously to Flamel, to the point it makes her great volume of tied hair bounce. "Exactly so! There is no 'before way' and 'the new way'. There is an injustice corrected. An enemy defeated. A spring to a long and dark winter. There are those, as I said, who still prefer the lands that they know, but there are none who would long to return to a state of exile, war, and a perilous existence itself." "'Trauma' is a word I understand, but which we don't use. But what you describe is exactly what Seilatiya had intuited from the very start. Even back then, before I realized at all, she had seen the shape of her --our-- true enemy, the moment she recognized the thing within herself and its mirror in us. Even before I was preparing for war with the Imperialists, she was preparing for war with this greater enemy she knew would come after. I could never help but admire it." The length of the remaining walk seems to relate to this purpose. There's an intentional divergence, well off the rails, and towards ancient, towering construction, clearly thoroughly refitted and reorganized but no doubt having been built to be cannon-proof even before then. Sealed circuits of concentric walls connect fortified towers and bear tremendous gates, separating the huge roads, watch posts, and training yards outside, from the garrisons and arsenals inside, and beyond that, the palace's own district. Seilatiya had said that this portion was very much of the military nature. The sheer spread of it has clearly been cut down by extensive civil re-engineering, no longer involving entire quarters given over just to the private privilege of the capital's military elite, and rather serving only its purely practical purpose, without being flaunted. What is visibly there is what Isahane described too. Trams moving through checkpoints loaded with unexpectedly advanced and heavy weaponry. Armouries powered exclusively through bespoke rune-smithing assembly and exacting craft. Crews of veteran soldiers performing elaborate drills atop mock walls and ranges. Fields of Ilenjeh warriors clad in Imperial steel going full tilt at armed exercises, or instead bare-knuckle mixed martial arts. Cargo pulled by massive fantastical beasts, obviously trained like the dubiously infamous 'war elephant' of ancient history. And a bare plaza given exclusively to a sand garden surrounding three enormous walls of what looks like polished onyx, inlaid with delicate golden script, etched down to a thickness of a couple of millimeters in places. It doesn't take more than a moment to intuit that the massive list of names is a war memorial; specifically 'of the fallen'. Not feeling the need to explain that, Isahane stands before it, and instead says:
Undivided Queens	"If you compare it to healing, then I will say that if you wish the healing to be complete, and not fester and cripple later on, the arrowhead must be removed from the wound; it cannot be stitched over. As I said. Damage is part of our history. Hurt is something we shouldn't ignore or forget. And we should never glorify, romanticize, or feel endeared to, that which causes us pain. We are still here, and that should be celebrated. Some of us are not, and they should be remembered. And our enemy is gone, and should stay gone, from people's minds and hearts, from our land, and from our history." "You will not find one name of a fallen soldier who died for the wrong side. Not one gravestone. There was not one single burial for those who stood with weapons and violence against the girl that wanted to love them and the people they had wronged for centuries; I ensured their bodies were burnt and cast out to sea. No historian will commemorate them, only note the facts of their existence. Their culture is a toxin, and a healer cannot have mercy or fondness for toxins. That is the last thought I will leave you with. Do not teach your people to forgive, to admire, to respect, the evils that harm them. Do not let them write songs and build art as tribute to them, out of misplaced respect. Because one day, their children's children will grow up with those things, and worshipfully want them back."
Candy	Staren's response draws a funny look from Candy. "Skeptical? What are you doing using them book words? Use normal people words and people understand you better, ah?" His tongue peeks from between his lips, and he grins in that mischievous little way. He's kidding. "Yeah, I guess I am skeptical. Can you blame me? Past two times we been here, we talked to... well, the people they make the statues out of. Lotta times, the people that did the chiseling have different shit to say." "But I look around here, and I don't see no uniforms. I don't see no pissants. Nobody breaking their back for pennies to keep all this shit going. So I'm only a -little- skeptical." Persephone notices his trick, and he grins impishly when she returns the gesture. <J-IC-Scene> Persephone Kore says, "You're being really impossible, aren't you, Candy?" <J-IC-Scene> Persephone Kore says, "But you could've just asked." <J-IC-Scene> Candy says, "But then I wouldn't have seen that look on your face! "<J-IC-Scene> Persephone Kore says, "Ahaha. You're the worst to me, you know." <J-IC-Scene> Candy says, "Mhm!~" Already pleased enough to be here under the circumstances, there is a notable spring in his step at this point. He spreads it around, telekinetically petting Staren between the ears. It's Isahane's response to Cantio that makes him realize what canny leaders the queens are-- Shit. Got a point there. No one believes a general with an outstretched hand or a politician with a sword. "No shit," says Candy, clearly impressed when Isahane mentions that core, foundational belief of Seilatiya's. "Well, then it sounds like the both of you escaped the brain-shrinking so far." Though his hand escapes Phony's to twirl a finger around illustratively, his mind's grasp is still entwined with hers. "Hope you stay two steps ahead of it for a long, long time." There may be moments, here and there, where this place could use someone like him. It is the first he's seen in a very long time that doesn't seem as though it -needs- someone like him, or if it does, it certainly isn't a dire need. It's only after the visit to the memorial, that imposing list of names, that he nods once more. "'Raise crows and they will peck your eyes,'" agrees Candy with his free hand in his pocket. "You two might be the smartest polished table people I ever met. Maybe the smartest there's ever been. Thanks for the tour, ah?"
Cantio	"I can't? I mean, I know I can't be exactly... O-oh." Cantio starts to protest, but she quiets down rather quickly once Isahane starts making sense rather quickly. There's a strained look on her face as things start clicking together in her head again, especially at the talk of not trying to do two opposite things. "That... Yes, that definitely sounds like what I've been trying to do." She actually laughs after a moment, then clenches one fist in something resembling determination. "I already know I can't win people's hearts like my sister does. I guess that just means I have to start working on becoming more assertive instead!" There's a brief pause, and then Cantio's already slumping slightly as she realizes what she's said. She doesn't say she's doomed, but the look on her face certainly suggests that she's thinking it super hard. She does make a surprised noise, however, when Staren comes in for that unexpected hug. "Eh? I don't? But Miss Isahane's progress with Miss Seilatiya here..." She doesn't sound too convinced, although she does furrow her brow when Staren mentions certain people not liking her to begin with. "I... Suppose that might have a point, though. I can't make everyone like me, especially if there just... Well, like Isahane said." Cantio strokes her chin lightly. "We don't really have limitless wealth, so self-sacrifice and charity can only go so far. And trying to move in two separate directions to appease everyone doesn't make sense if they'll never like me to begin with." She actually does an okay job hiding any venom that might be creeping into her voice even when Staren mentions Lilian. Cantio's expression does sour a bit at that, but she eventually manages to laugh again. "I appreciate it. I still want to become at least... Some kind of leader that can be useful to the Concord, though. I can't just get all these pep talks and not contribute something myself! Maybe I just need to figure out what it was you were doing, then." She suggests, possibly missing the entire point while peering at Staren next. "Just being you instead of someone else people might ike..." Her gaze focuses suddenly, and then she squats in place to start tapping away at her tablet. "Yes... Like with you being yourself instead of that, Isahane being true to herself even with Seilatiya rubbing off on her and vice versa, Flamel and his suits even with Persephone, Candy with his strange charm, Persephone being..." She taps her chin, then lets out a more relaxed chuckle. "... Herself. Broolklynn with her followers, and even Hiromi with her own..." "I think it's making more sense now."
Flamel Parsons	"Huh? Oh, I didn't mean healing with the enemy!" Parsons nods a few times. "Healing trauma usually means separating from the cause, you know? I meant giving people options and boundaries. Sometimes, the place you go when you're being hurt is a place you need to be able to stay at! And creep back and forth however you like. If you've ever heard of something called refeeding syndrome, you know a bit of what I mean. The focus on free transport to and from, that's especially good!" He adjusts his sunglasses. "A lot of people, when they try to recover, they try to re-expose themselves fully, and they're just not ready, you know? Or maybe there's other dangers that they need to be worried about. Or maybe it's just nice to have options and variety! I'm glad you respected the approach of keeping options as open as possible."