Scene #9139:

Owner	Pose
Merelisa Shaynore	@Andromeda: Hey Sarra @Andromeda: If you still want to figure this out together, you're welcome to come over @Andromeda: Here's the co-ordinates: XX-XXXX XXXXXX @Andromeda: But it's really no pressure though The warpgate that Merelisa invites Sarracenia to come through leads to Merelisa's own world. A structure of woven crimson-red and gleaming silver metal like a hut houses the warpgate itself, and the village that it opens up into is more of the same: a blend of tribal style of living, with clear sci-fi level tech advancement, greenery intermingling with metal and plastic housing, wide paths of red stone winding lazily around. The village itself is sheltered in the very base of a deep crevice, tall stone cliffs to either side, with fantastical animal life like dragonflies the size of cars nesting in the cliffside. The village itself is populated by tall, muscular people with grey or green skin, casually slinging a ton of metal or stone over their shoulders in woven baskets. Sarra is looked at as just enough of a curiosity to feel like it's rare for people to come through the warpgate, but not so much that outsiders seem to be unheard of, whether through the warpgate or otherwise. Either way, she's immediately identifiable to the villagers as someone they're waiting for-- Merelisa must have let them know to point her up the cliffside staircase to where she is, and 'being able to do something for Merelisa' is enough of a privilege that several of the villagers cluster around Sarra to try and point her in that direction at once. The rocky staircase winds upwards inside the cliff itself, sheltered from the dry heat of the mountain. The temperature drops enough that the sweat worked up by the first few minutes of walking upstairs becomes a little chilly, and then the stairway opens up into a cool, shady room built into the rock. The air is cool and damp, shaded with a faint purple tinge by a quirk of the rock face, even while the valleys that the room looks over are shimmering with heat. An entire wall of the cave is open to the air, providing a vista for comfortable viewing, and Merelisa is sitting at one of two chairs around a surprisingly small table for the size of the cave. The vista that the cave opening shows isn't purely picturesque, though. A pyramid of white marble and gold looms over the landscape below, and the shine that it must have once had is dimmed by years of entropy and the scars of battle that evaporated chunks of stone into scorch marks. A stone bridge crosses the valley gap in front of it, crumbled in the middle and in general disrepair-- years of disrepair, not decades. Merelisa's pose doesn't match the gravitas, exactly. She's got her ankles crossed and legs stretched out in front of her, spinning restlessly back and forth in her chair. She checks her phone multiple times in the span of a minute, and absentmindedly pops a jellybean in her mouth from the bag that's on the table.
Sarracenia	Sarra had been agonizing over whether to call Merelisa or not. She had never had someone she got close to so quickly before -or- had a friend she had such a falling out with. But almost as soon as she gets the messages from @Andromeda... @SuperSarra: I will be there as soon as I can! "What should I wear, Anise?!" Sarra exclaims to her piranha plant handmaiden as clothes fly out of the massive walk in closet every now and then. "My usual royal gown seems too formal, but if I wear something too -in-formal it could be seen as insulting! And it is my first visit to her world and to her home! ...will it be her home? Surely it will, right?" The piranha plant in a dress and a little flower crown just collects the tossed out clothes and lays them out on the bed and various other surfaces around the room for the princess to look through. "Maybe the...no, that would surely send the wrong message..." Her newly commissioned Trideag dress is tossed out. "...but...it also sends the right message. And it looks nice. Maybe...yes! I will need an emergency commission! To the fashion boutique!!" Sarra steps through the warpgate in her Trideag dress, a beautiful black velvet dress with two rows of silver buttons and silver trim around the chest and a pleated long skirt. She also wears a bright red cape with gold trim and a gold broach to hold it around her neck, inset with a large ruby that matches the ones in her crown and headband. On the back of the cape is Sarra's personal crest, an embroided golden hammer with a shield covering the handle and a shining green spiral design like a curled up sundew on the shield. The colors have been overall deliberately chosen to mirror Merelisa's own. And one last thing she has is an approximation of Merelisa's Andromeda necklace. She wants it to be clear she still believes in Merelisa and does not regret their bond even if she is part Trideag and had to stand against Merelisa that day. When the princess is welcomed warmly in an almost heroic reception...it causes her eyes to mist up a bit. She thanks the people happily for their help and wipes at her eyes a bit as she heads up the stairs, her cape and skirt billowing elegantly in the breeze. Of course, sweat forms quickly on her brow at the temperature thanks to the dress and cape, but she keeps cool with an ice flower. She wants to be the most presentable she can be when she gets there. Of course, perhaps the first thing that Merelisa might notice when Sarra reaches the opening to the cave is...how short her hair is. It is only now reaching to below her ears after the flames claimed much of it, but Sarra has done the best she can with it by having a small braid formed around her head about temple level to make a sort of circlet of shining copper. Sarra hesitates before stepping in, but seeing Merelisa's demeanor alleviates much of her worry and she smiles experimentally as she approaches. "Hello, Merelisa. It is good to see you. I...I am..." Her eyes mist up again. "...just...like...so glad you reached out. I was unsure what to do after...after the City."
Merelisa Shaynore	Merelisa put a little bit too much thought into today's outfit too, probably for similar reasons as Sarracenia. She's actually wearing more armor than she did at the City or when combating the Darkmancer, but it looks largely ceremonional. Chainmail drapery between gold-embossed epaulettes, a half-breastplate with the symbol of the Stellar Heart Andromeda dead center over her heart, framed by the pendant itself, gaps in the armor making it useless for actual combat wear but considerably more comfortable. Below the armor around her hips, her outfit tapers into a sheer dress, with a chain wrapped around her waist to emphasize her form and provide shape to the flowing fabric. Sarracenia knows, from experience that if she was actually intending to fight, she'd have those metal-weave sleeves on, the ones embedded with crystals that allow her to control her mechanical arms. Here, sitting like this, she has the appearance of 'waiting for a ceremony', or is just dressing herself in the endowments of 'Andromeda' for comfort. When Sarracenia speaks up, Merelisa jolts up out of her chair, heels clacking against the stone, and then lets out an awkward laugh to relieve tension. A smile crawls across her face even before she manages to say anything, but she fights it down in order to look at least a little bit more serious. "... Hey, Sarra. I'm... glad you came." Merelisa laces her fingers together, then picks up the bag of jellybeans and hastily places it on the chair so it's out of view. "Um... a fight like that... it hurts, but I can't hold it against you. Not when you were fighting for what you believed was right." "But... I was fighting for what I thought was right too." Merelisa turns away to the open side of the cave, to watch as the shine of the pyramid below turns orange in the glare of the sun. "And I've fought a lot, you know. Always, always for what I thought was right, and sometimes, I had to learn how to follow that sense better, after... doing things a way I didn't like, in retrospect." "I know the world couldn't have been saved by the me that left Shaynore when I was sixteen. Not just because I was weak, but because I wouldn't have let the world be saved in a way that would last. Back then, I thought destroying a factory supply line was the height of recklessness-- the factory might fall, but what about people's jobs? What if people went hungry?" Merelisa's eyes drop to the ground, and she quiets a bit. "... So I get it. I really do. But it's been a while since I was that person."
Sarracenia	Sarra feels relieved a second time when she sees what Merelisa is wearing. So, she did judge the gravity of the meeting properly. Her worry returns somewhat when Merelisa fights down her own smile though, and Sarra's fades as well. "I also do not hold it against you at all. I understand why you were there and why and why you thought you had to go that route. I will not apologize for standing against you, but...I do wish to apologize for one thing." Sarra swallows. "I...am sorry. I used our friendship and your good nature as a weapon against you. I just...did not see any other options. You are so strong. I...could never hope to defeat you in a proper honorable combat." 'But it's been a while since I was that person.' "I know that urge to just erase every trace of the thing you despise as quickly and thoroughly as possible, but...heroes...when they are saving the world..." She huffs as she tries to think of the right words. "...I know logically that wiping out the source of evil as quickly and thoroughly as possible makes sense, but...the way you were doing it...where would it have ended? I guess that is the part I do not see. The City is corrupt to its very core, and the people are trapped in the web of that corruption to the point that they are all part of the system, so...where would it have ended? How much of the city would have been left after you cleansed it completely? How many of the people? You did not seem like you actually had plans of stopping, especially given what you said at the end there." Sarra moves to take a seat in the empty chair, presuming that it was meant for her. She looks over at Merelisa. "...what made you stop being that person?"
Merelisa Shaynore	Sarracenia's apology makes Merelisa's eyes widen in surprise, and her lips part slightly before forming a small smile. One she doesn't try and suppress. "Ahah. I wasn't expecting to be apologized to today. You're really... kind, Sarra." Merelisa takes a few paces around the table, so that she isn't leaning across it to talk to Sarracenia. Without the table between them, it feels less like a 'meeting', and more like a 'conversation', and Merelisa's hand resting on the back of her chair adds to that feeling. "It makes me happy that you trusted me for that, at least. The rest of the Association... they're a varied bunch, aren't they?" Merelisa laughs faintly. "It doesn't really make me confident in the direction they're going, I'll say. Some of them were alright, but others...." "They were all too happy to blame me for every problem they had, just for trying to solve it in a different way. A faster, more sure way. That's the sort of... deflection that makes sure that the villains always win; when fast change is scarier than letting everything stay the way it is." Merelisa sighs and stays standing when Sarra takes the seat. Not to snub her or indicate a difference in the power dynamic, but because she has to pace around while talking, taking slow sharp clicking steps during each sentence. She walks to the front of the cave, where the mouth drops off into a sheer cliff hundreds of feet high. "It would've stopped when it needed to stop, wouldn't it? Not everyone in the City is evil, I know we both agree on that. Most civilians are made to do evil by other people; so when you take out the worst ones first, eventually the rest will have the freedom to be good too. If you do it dramatically, and decisively, then people will be more willing to give it up earlier, because they see what'll happen if they don't." "It's a frightening-looking method, but... if it wasn't, then it wouldn't be as effective. In the end, all I want is for the fewest good people to die: but every day that the evil in the City persists, more and more do. It's just easier to ignore, when they're not put on the news like I was." "...what made you stop being that person?" Merelisa holds her hand out to indicate the valleys below, glossy nails embedded with flecks of gold and ruby polish. The grand pyramid in ruins, and the bridge shattered and overgrown. "Some years ago, there was an orc warlord who united all the cities in this part of the world, through force. He wanted to keep growing his new empire, keep conquering more and more... we fought him, my friends and I. Laurent killed him; I said that was where it ended." "A few months later, all his lieutenants were scrambling for the crown themselves, less organized, bloodier, all just as evil, because they were still part of that power system that we thought we destroyed with Emperor Ushnar. Hundreds more soldiers lost, and villages burned, and when the new chieftans tried to cross this bridge here, I beat them one by one until they stopped. Until the ones that remained went back home and hung up their gunlances forever, because they knew that it was pointless."
Sarracenia	Sarra blushes a bit at being called kind. "W-well...thank you." 'It makes me happy that you trusted me for that." Sarra smiles softly. "I never believed any of the things they were saying. Hearing them calling you a villain hurt since I knew you were anything but." Sarra listens to the rest of the talk of the others and the Association and what Merelisa thinks it would take to stamp out the evil of the city. Merelisa holds out a hand and Sarra marvels a bit at the gloss she is using before standing again to get a better look at the pyramid and the bridge. Sarra listens to the story, and by the end of it there is a slight unhappy frown on her face. "The City...I think it is the same way. There is one difference, though. The orcs, they knew there was another way and just wanted the route full of glory and conquest. The people of the City...I am not sure any of them know of any other way besides the Corporations and the Syndicates. That is why we need the Trideag Association. We have to show them that there -is- another way, that they do not have to just accept the world the way it is. Those that want something better...we are gathering them. Yes, it will surely take longer. Perhaps much longer. But, without the Trideag Association...the entire City's population may be worse than orcs. Waiting for their chance to seize power and with no idea of how to live without that power." She looks to Merelisa after that. "If you destroy all the orcs in the City...there simply may not be any City left at this point. Did you know that one of our suppliers was attacked for the supplies he was bringing in for our sky garden? And instead of going and destroying them, we went to them and showed them there was a better option. Now, they are Trideag. They are helping to improve the city, instead of fighting like stray dogs for every scrap." Sarra's eyes widen a bit at what she herself said. "...yes...stray, abused dogs. They may not be evil, but until they realize it is okay to be good...and that they will not be harmed for being good, they will not be good."
Merelisa Shaynore	"Stray dogs...." Merelisa murmurs in repetition. She actually likes that metaphor a lot, for the unruly civilians, as people who are fundamentally good but simply lost their way. "I don't disagree. The average person, whoever you grab off the street: they would be kind, if taken into a kind society and out of their gangs and corporations." "But that still leaves those gangs and corporations. Will those people in the yachts see Trideag and realize that the Middle Finger could've been nicer this whole time? Or will they see the Association forming up against them and realize that their power is being undermined, and that they have to crack down twice as hard? If one of your lower ranking members had walked into that gambling ring I destroyed and declared that they were going to quit a life of crime and live for good with Trideag, would their peers join them? Or would they be killed on the spot?" "When that sort of thing might happen once, turning the Firmament Driver on the building saved a life who will go on to do good. When it might happen a hundred times, or a thousand-- then the math is clear, right? Not everyone in the City is a gangster. The gangs and the Syndicates are the ones keeping people from knowing that they're able to do good." Merelisa folds her arms across her chest and touches a finger to her pendant sentimentally. "Part of showing that the world can be better means getting rid of the old growth that's choking out new, healthier life. In the end, you know Trideag will have to deal with those Beholders, and the Head; and then whichever Syndicate leaders the CEOs are hoping to fill the spots. You'll have to fight them all, or you're giving up on improving anything past a certain point, and you're just becoming one of them." "So my goal's the same thing it was before. I want to help the Trideag Association. But Lilian's methods; they'll hit a wall, sooner than you think. And at that point, the Trideag leadership will have to make a choice, and like the other stray dogs, I can show them that true, uncompromised good is possible."
Sarracenia	Sarra smiles as Merelisa agrees with her about the stray dog metaphor. But, as Merelisa talks about what would happen if someone walked into that gambling ring and said they were leaving Sarra's smile fades again. "Yes...but how many stray dogs that could have been redeemed were lost to save one that had not yet been harmed? We know that we will have to confront the Beholders and Syndicates and Corporations and whatever else we may have to face. But, when that time comes, if we did our job at the Trideag association well, then the people of the city will be behind us. If we have to fight the old growth, then...is it not effective to take away what the growth is feeding on? That way you weaken it before cutting it...down?" Sarra is kind of making it up as she goes. She hasn't done a lot of deep conversations and so she sounds a bit uncertain. "...well, anyway. One thing you can be certain of about Lilian. She may be unnecessarily cruel and her methods are often questionable, but she is also very powerful and driven. And somewhere deep in there she actually does want things to be better and...most people to be happy. But, she lost faith in people somewhere along the way. She has done many heroic things. I have seen her take on world-ending monsters in between bouts of shouting at someone or undermining someone's self-confidence. She has basically said she thinks she does everything herself and that no other elites are worth anything." Sarra blinks, then mmphs. "Sorry...I suppose I have a...lot to say about her. But, the important thing there is that she is almost as unstoppable as you, I think. And she is not afraid to take action. She and several of her friends are working on a project that promises to severely disrupt the City once it is completed." Sarra pauses there. "Although...I have yet to discern whether that project will actually help the people of the city." The princess mmphs again, getting a bit frustrated at herself. "Just...how about this? If we can show that our method is producing results would you delay any further Firmament Driver firings on the City until we at least have had to make that choice?"
Merelisa Shaynore	"Will the City be behind you? Can they?" It's a rhetorical question when it comes out of Merelisa's mouth. She's far too familiar with the wills and whims of the public towards heroes to leave much doubt in her mind that her forecast of their attitude would be wrong, especially when it comes to this. "When I was steps away from tearing Ouranos out of heaven and sealing away Chaos forever, and the world was rooting for me, the common people still couldn't openly praise me. Even after decapitating what the City would know as Wings-- Ouranos's followers, the Titans that ruled each locality-- it still wasn't safe to. They felt hope, but it couldn't feel real, and that came down to one thing: "The All-Seeing Eye. The Beholders. The Sight. Walls with ears, towers with eyes; the worm inside every person's head that makes speaking your mind lethal when any of them could be listening. Surveillance is a weapon even more powerful than the Firmament Driver, because it works even when you're not firing it, and the City has it as badly as I've ever seen." "How will people rally together, when all of them know that at any moment one of those spies for the Head could appear right in front of them? Or might already be there, invisible, waiting for them to step out of line? People will tell each other to stay in line, just to keep them safe, because what else are you supposed to do when you're powerless?" "... I have sympathy for them. My heart aches, honestly. I never thought it'd be this bad ever again, not after...." Merelisa crosses her arms and trails off. Her gaze travels upwards to the slit of sky visible past the cave mouth, and she sighs-- more wistfully than regretfully. "And that's why I can't just leave them to something I know won't work. I care too much about them for that, no matter... anything else." "Lilian reminds me of myself, a little bit," Merelisa shifts topics and slowly lowers herself into her chair again, done pacing. That's probably a good sign, with her ideological arguments mostly worked out. "She hasn't gotten as far, but I still kind of like her work. And feeling like you can only do it yourself... well, it's not like I can say I've never felt that way. If I can, I'd like to encourage her growth, not make her an enemy...." "... How about this? It's her ideas you're all acting on, right? The Association's goal is what it is because Lilian thinks that's best. I'll have a talk with her, and maybe we'll reach a compromise both of us like. And if not, then... well, I really do appreciate the Concord's idea that I don't have to betray myself for other people's sake." Merelisa puts her elbow on the arm of the chair and rests her cheek on her knuckles, smiling at Sarra. She plucks another jellybean out of her back, precisely pinched between index and thumb, and pops it into her mouth. "Thanks for coming, Sarra. I do appreciate getting to talk this out with you. It's not something any of my other friends would have any idea of how to approach for a plan."
Sarracenia	'Will the City be behind you? Can they?' Sarra looks a bit unnerved there. Merelisa also does not have hope that people can be lead out of darkness? They have to be forced out for it to stick? This gives Sarra something to think about. "Surveillance is a powerful weapon indeed..." she agrees. 'How will people rally together, when all of them know that at any moment one of those spies for the Head could appear right in front of them?' Sarra is quiet for a few moments. "...well, it is my hope that Trideag will give them a rally point. An Association that truly treats its members well, that is powerful enough to rival the other powers of the City. I hope the seeds of good will we spread will take root and spread through the people." 'It's her ideas you're all acting on, right?' "Well, it is certainly not her ideology. That code of hers...the thirteen rules she follows. I disagree with many of them." 'I'll have a talk with her, and maybe we'll reach a compromise both of us like. And if not, then... well, I really do appreciate the Concord's idea that I don't have to betray myself for other people's sake.' Sarra...looks worried at that. "...you declared that anyone who tries to stop you when you show up next time will be destroyed with the rest of the evil in the City. Lilian treats one's words as law, and going back on them even if she hates those words will do little for your case. If...if you do manage to talk to her I pray it goes well, but...she is perhaps the most stubborn person I have ever met. She knows without a doubt in her mind that her methods and beliefs are the right ones. Just..." Sarra sighs, then tries to return that smile. "Just...familiarize yourself with her code if you are going to try and negotiate with her. If you break one of the tenants in her presence she will treat it as if you have insulted her to the highest degree. And since you will probably -already- be on her 'to be destroyed' list thanks to many things, not least of which being your friendship with me, it would probably be best not to give her any additional ammunition." Despite all her talk of hope and such, apparently Sarra is not confident such a negotiation will go well. 'Thanks for coming, Sarra. I do appreciate getting to talk this out with you. It's not something any of my other friends would have any idea of how to approach for a plan.' Sarra smiles more genuinely at the thanks. "Thank you for inviting me. And for...still being my friend even after all of this. Ah...do hugs exist where you are from?" Sarra is a princess that can hug. And she is not shy about hugging her friends, probably in violation of royal decorum. She holds her arms out in offer of a hug.