Scene #8511: Magical Bindings Are Fine Actually

Owner	Pose
Dysnomia	The 'ALLSUMMER' installation was quite unique...At least, asofar as 'unique' counts for, in the infinite fractal of the multiverse. A relic out of time, from before integration, before anti-grav tech, when the best tool their architects had at their disposal to create walkable stations was good, old-fashioned centrifugal force. A metallic cylindar, hollow in the center, except for long supporting bands that criss-crossed, meeting in the center, anchor after redundant anchors, with docking bays on each end, to keep the artifical habitat from flying apart from the force of its own spinning. And spin it did. From a distance, it seemed almost graceful; a slow turning, steel world. But list most things the size of a small moon, even its grace was savage, for a normal human to touch its edge without matching its momentum was to consign oneself to becoming a red smear on is side. But it was necessary, for without it none one living on it would stand at all. People lived and worked on the interior, in long metal compartments, walking across the inside of the cylindar in long metal compartments, their manmade horizon curving upward in a visible concave. Even with all that, its gravity only reached 0.4gs, floaty and disconnected from earth's own, maintained only by the support of its own people and sentimentality that designated it as a historical site. The station seemed quaint to Dysnomia. Cute, even. Friendly. A sharp contrast to the jagged feelings in her gut and the frustrated scowl on her face. It wasn't too far from the warpgate. Through a brief checkpoint, take monorail Black-A three stops down, through an airlock, cut through a residential habitat, follow the signs, through another airlock, (redundency is everything) into the park. Of course, Dysnomia had not gone through any of that trouble. Yet, somehow, she was there regardless. Curved concrete snaked under bough and branch, surrounded by too-vivid green grass. There was a family, there, a cloth drapped across a table with paper plates set up. A pair of youths settled up against the trunk of a tree, hand in hand. Dysnomia sat on a bench near the far edge of the park, surrounded by odd, bulbous trees with violet leaves engineered to thrive in this strange enviorment. The ground itself-or perhaps the floor?-On the later half of the park, past a metal rail and a friendly sign of someone walking over a void crossed out, is a large, thick window spun from exotic matter. The shimmery surface of venus swirmed beneath them in an angry storm, it's mass half-eclipsing the sun behind it, set against a background of numberless stars. It would be difficult to tell if the girl herself was a strange sort of human or a humanlike alien. Softly glowing, silvery-blue hair hung easy about her back, her pupilless eyes burned orange, her teeth were black and something violet shone out of her mouth. A holographic display hovered over a display on her wrist, alien letters flashing above the display.
Tamamo	It's well that Tamamo doesn't have to get in from outside, though in this sort of case, it's to be expected if one going through a warp gate is still held up for a bit in whatever passes for 'customs.' Fortunately, she some very good valid ID, and there's just 'something' calming about her presence. She 'couldn't possibly' be anyone suspicious, even coming in as a very obvious nonhuman -- a fox-eared and three-tailed woman, whose usual shrine maiden-like sorceress's garb has been modified, in deference to the low-gravity environment, with the addition of long gloves, and the removal of most of her long, flowing cloth. It still doesn't quite make a suit, spaceworthy or otherwise, but the close lines fit in a little better against those who do dress that way, as if she simply wanted to meet halfway. The navy and black scheme would probably not be safe for EVA work, though the white stripes help. Best not think to the practicality of gold hairpins. Moreover, she still manages to affect the aura of something more ethereal, ungrounded, though she is properly walking on the pathway, atop her geta, rather than floating. On hard surfaces, it's a distinctive tapping, if lighter at 0.4g. The trees visibly distract her along the way, if only for a minute. Like the routist she is, she stops to walk around one and observe it from each angle, before giving a soft, "Oh? Hm, I see," and continuing on. "Ms. Dysnomia -- of course. Should I say, 'it is a pleasure to meet you'? We had not been introduced before, I suppose. I am known as Tamamo-no-mae, Paladins Chevalier and bunrei of Amaterasu-omikami, She of the Pale-Gold Face, Goddess of the Sun. And now that you know of me, of what shall we speak?"
Dysnomia	"You're a formal one." The hologram she'd been staring at winked out as she stood, turning around to face Tamamno. All the titles might have put Dysnomia off, most times. But now, at least, she mostly found herself curious. Something about her set the bristling animal of her ego more at ease. "Well then, Tamamo-no-mae, let's get introduced. You had it right; I'm Dysnomia Altais, and I've thrown my titles away." She crossed her arms, considering the refined fox-goddess for a moment. Some sort of sun priestess? After what she'd seen, Tamamo was clearly a potent one. "Right to point. I like that." She crossed her arms. "It's about Viviane, and your geas." "I don't like what you did." She said, but there wasn't hostility in her voice. "But. It's not like it would have been better to...Keep her locked up. But how long does she have to stay like that, before we trust her?" "Let's say we find her master. Let's say we handle him. What happens to her then?" She searched Tamamo's expression. "You could tell me she could still betray us. You could tell me she'd carry on her creator's work. You could come up with all these...'reasonable'...reasons to keep her shackled like that." "Will you?"
Tamamo	"Ah, do you prefer your given name?" Tamamo has to ask, given how culturally specific the question is. She's not speaking anything like the languages spokenon this station, right now, but the usual translation effect makes her understandable 'enough,' regardless. 'Formal' isn't wrong at all. Moving on from that with a simple acknowledgment, whatever the answer is, Tamamo says, "Do you recall the terms of the geas? Should Ms. Viviane no longer be in a state of having surrendered, then there will be no one to whom she has pledged her cooperation, so far as the binding that I have placed upon her is concerned. As to the length of her captivity, it is not a matter over which I have taken responsibility." Sitting's more convenient, and so, she does, leaning against the back of the bench, partly turned to give her tails space to be. Standing in lower gravity than she must be used to isn't so bad, either, but this looks significantly less noteworthy, from a distance. "Ah, but this is an evasive answer, no? While I could dodge responsibility, I imagine that this is not that which you wished to hear." Reading anything from her expression is difficult. It's like she doesn't know how to be nervous, even in the small ways most people are in all but the most comfortable environments. "Were it my decision to make... I suppose that I would keep her captive no longer than her master remains a threat, upon the belief that she is concerned for that one's well-being, but will not be motivated by vengeance against a sentencing justly delivered. It may be safer for others to be more strict with her, however, as for myself..." Tilting her head, looking off into the distance somewhere far off, Tamamo's golden eyes eventually fall back to Dysnomia's. In truth, it was only a moment. "There is something of which my Lilian is quite fond, and it follows to the following tune. 'To show mercy is the privilege of the strong. To commit murder is the act of one too weak, too foolish, and too unprepared to find an alternative.' Is it not well, then, that I should have this strength at hand? There needed be no question of further restricting her freedom, for the craft and preparation I possessed did instead resolve our issue. In the future, the question is the same. I am permitted to be merciful, and to have faith that she will prove worthy of trust, through confidence that no disaster will be beyond our ability." It's not quite clear who she means by 'our.'
Dysnomia	"Ah, do you prefer your given name?" "I do." No explanation. "There is something of which my Lilian is quite fond, and it follows to the following tune. 'To show mercy is the privilege of the strong. To commit murder is the act of one too weak, too foolish, and too unprepared to find an alternative..." Your Lilian, huh. Mia observed, eyebrows raising. A few pieces of a puzzle clicked together. "I heard her say that." She continued, sitting herself on the far end of the bench from Tamamo. "It's not too bad. I liked it, think. I'm not used to restraint, from the strong. And it sounded almost like she understood." "The way she treated Viviane. The way she talked to that brat. We'd just fought her, and she was already defending her right to be 'her.' Maybe it made me feel a little bit better, about trusting her to handle it." And maybe it made her feel better about Tamamo, now that she understood what bound her to the Dame Commander. "...I am permitted to be merciful, and to have faith that she will prove worthy of trust..." Her fingers drummed on the wood of the bench, mouth turning into a frown and she overlooked Venus. "I'm not so strong as to trust." She said, flatly. "But, I'd like to believe you. And it's better than throwing her into a brig. I'm not completely stupid." "If you hold to what you just said with her, I guess that'll be enough."
Tamamo	'I do.' 'Miss Dysnomia' she'll be, then. '...to that brat.' "The, ah... whom?" It's not perfectly clear whether Tamamo is confused because she can't recall a brat, or because she can recall more than one. It is clear that she takes a moment to search her memory without coming to a definite conclusion. 'I'm not used to restraint, from the strong.' "You should, perhaps, ask her about her Code of Thirteen. It will not grant you a complete understanding of the way in which she cleaves to principle and demonstrates her restraint, but it is something about which she has deeply cared, handed down by those who came before her since long, long ago. She might appreciate an interest taken." Tamamo makes that sound simpler than it really is, but that'll be for Mia to find out. 'If you hold to what you just said with her, I guess that'll be enough.' "Thank you for your understanding in this matter." Her language is very formal -- and decidedly archaic, to anyone familiar with the lingual family -- but her tone is warmly pleased. It's 'apart from her word choice' that gives that closer, more familiar feeling. "If there are other concerns, I would not mind offering an explanation. It is better to do so than to find a conflict in the field, as it were."
Dysnomia	"The, ah... whom?" "Oh you know the..." The girl paused, realizing there had actually been more than one magical girl present. More than TWO, even. "...You know, I didn't catch her name? I guess it doesn't matter." "You should, perhaps, ask her about her Code of Thirteen...She might appreciate an interest taken." "So, the Dame has a knight's code, too." She mused to herself. "She's taken that all the way. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, should I?" Dysnomia had the self-awareness to not air her most pessimistic thoughts no the matter to Lilian's girlfriend, and yet... She didn't know where that thought was going, and so she pulled it back. "If there are other concerns, I would not mind offering an explanation. It is better to do so than to find a conflict in the field, as it were." "Oh, that would be nice." Dysnomia muttered. "It feels like everyone out here just shuts up and pretends things will just go away if they don't mention them." She looks up, her shoulders losing some of their omnipresent tension, as her lip quirked into something not-quite a smile. "I think I was expecting something worse, from someone who could bind others to their will." There was a note in her voice that was almost apology. "Glad I was wrong, I guess."
Tamamo	'She's taken that all the way.' "It is so." Tamamo seems particularly willing, by tone, to talk about Lilian's accomplishments. "It was not what her own parents would have of her, yet she took to the path of the sword of her ancestors, going so far as to visit the Warrior Maid of Dún Scáith, in the Land of Shadows." It's hard to miss those important capital letters. There's a breathiness in her voice. "She truly is my knight, among other titles I might give her, although... recent events had left her in a poor state, and in need of recovery. Ah, that is not something over which others need worry. I mean only that you may hear talk of past conflicts, and words heated as if fresh. I cannot help that this should occur." 'It feels like everyone out here just shuts up and pretends things will just go away if they don't mention them.' "Ahaha... if only it were so." That wasn't a happy laugh. 'I think I was expecting something worse, from someone who could bind others to their will.' "Ah--" The barest pause. "I understand. Of course, someone like myself may be considered dangerous, as well. That is only reasonable. You may, of course, continue to watch for me."
Dysnomia	"It is so... ...She truly is my knight, among other titles I might give her, although... recent events had left her in a poor state, and in need of recovery." Dysnomia couldn't help but nod at that. A great deal more input than she had recieved, she noted from anyone she had explicitly asked. "That, I've seen." No thanks to anybody else, of course. "The way we met was rough, but, how angry she is at being taken for granted...? I can't help but sympathize, I guess." "Even if she is so...intense about it." "I understand. Of course, someone like myself may be considered dangerous, as well. That is only reasonable. You may, of course, continue to watch for me." It felt like it would be rude to say 'I will,' even if it was true, and Dysnomia was surprised to realize that she actually cared. So instead, she turned to her, and said; "A lot of us can be considered dangerous. People back where I came from sure saw me like way. Don't take it too personal." "I'll see you arround, I guess." A long pause. "...Been good getting to know you, Tamamo-no-Mae." Her helmet closed itself in segments around her head, showing only an opaque black surface. Then, with a nod, she let herself 'fall,' carried by the momentum of false gravity down through the bench below, through the floor of the station, like smoke. The window quickly vanished from Mia's view as the station turned, and she from its, allowing Mia to fully spread her wings, stretching and vanishing to a far-off point in blackness of space.