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A Not-So-Subtle Matchmaker
Topic Started: Jan 13 2014, 08:57 PM (3,897 Views)
Demoness
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Despite being the dead of winter in the northern hemisphere, all was not gloom in Demoness. The season was called Second Summer and was indeed more like its counterpart than an opposite. The weather was warmer and slightly humid, though the latter was due to the shower was predicted to visit Sacred Rock later that evening. For the time being, the weather was overcast as Ned Davion descended into the airport. He would soon be followed by Gavrila de Sud, but he was not quite aware of that fact yet.

Visits between Fenwick and Demoness had become more than routine, with the prince representing his country more often than his father, and they had lost all their formality; a simple phone call announced his arrival and a car would meet him at the airport with little fanfare. He was admitted to the Plateau and after a little witty banter with the Guardian of the Gateway, an ex-girlfriend, he was led into Jia Li's private solar.

Though technically a solar, it was more specifically a library and Jia Li lounged with her legs across her husband's lap; a chitael, either Nemesis or Aphrodite, lay in hers. She propped up a book on her chitael's head, reading happily while her husband reviewed something on a tablet. She looked up as Ned entered and smiled. "Hey, Ned-mitsu," she greeted. "I'd stand but..." She indicated the hundred pound animal purring on her lap. "When did you get in?"
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Fenwick
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Ned chuckled slightly. "You do realize you're saying that to someone standing here in a t-shirt and jeans, right?" he asked with a playful nudge.
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Demoness
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"You are a different story," Xel replied plainly. Teasingly, he added, "Unless you want to talk about how you dated my sister."

Jia Li shook her head. "Why don't we just enjoy the view." She turned to Gavrila. "You've seen this side. From my garden, you can see the forest and the plains. It's a bit like seeing how the rest of the countryside is, but unfortunately, there's still the light pollution."
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Cetatsenia
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Gavrila grinned at the conversation, then turned towards Jia Li. "Sure, why not?" she said, shrugging, "Zough it is probably not zat different from what I have seen back in Cetatsenia."
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Demoness
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Jia Li shrugged. "Possibly," she allowed. She took Xel's hand and led the rest of the party into the garden. At night, it was a bit difficult to see, but the garden was cozy. Had they been barefoot, the grass would have been as soft as a carpet and slightly moist. There were numerous flowers growing as ground cover, but the primary focus was on the cherry trees. Unfortunately, they had missed their blooming cycle and the petals were still falling.

There was a small brook that sprung from somewhere beneath them and had been cultivated so that there were stepping stones and a small pond with koi. The overflow from the pond continued to stream to the edge where it became the waterfall. It was not a roaring, all-powerful source; it was gentle but it certainly had a current. Jia Li stood closer to the edge than she had at the other side and leaned into Xel.

Though hidden out of sight by the Palace, the lights of the airport created a halo on the left side of the plains, which stretched out beneath them. It was several football fields in size and at this time of night, it appeared it was inhabited by a few of the tall, odd-looking wild tsun and a pride of chitaels who observed them. There was a well-worn trail that started at the base of the plateau and skirted the edges of the field, as if it shouldn't touch it, and continued into the forest.

The forest, however, was not what Gavrila had expected. Years ago, it had been lush and full, covering the entirety of the northern shore, save for the field. Now, however, it was a center of regrowth. Several saplings were evident in a small cluster at the end of the trail and a few other seedlings appeared to have scattered themselves everywhere else. The scars of the fire had faded, but its destruction was still evident in the burnt remains of fallen trees and stumps, which had become host to new life. There was a clear line where the fire had been contained and the remnants of another scar centered on the saplings. Gavrila may remember a terrorist attack that had caused the whole forest, considered especially sacred, to burn two years ago.
Edited by Demoness, Feb 11 2014, 03:14 PM.
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Cetatsenia
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Gavrila looked around at the garden, thinking that it was quite pretty. She didn't much care that she'd missed the blooming of the cherry trees, the trees still looked pretty in her opinion. She was also interested in the stream and waterfall, and got closer to the edge than she probably should have as she looked out over the plains and the recovering remains of the forest.

Gavrila did indeed know of the terrorist attack. She didn't know much of it from when it happened, as it hadn't been particularly important to her, but Gavril had mentioned it and the burnt-out forest when he'd from the Demonessian ball in the Autumn.

"Oh, when you said ze forest, you actually meant ze forest," Gavrila said, then turned to look at Jia Li, "So... Why exactly was ze forest targeted?" She assumed the terrorists were Morante as well, and if the forest was sacred than surely they'd believed it sacred too, wouldn't they? Burning it down hardly made any sense to her.
Edited by Cetatsenia, Feb 11 2014, 03:45 PM.
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Demoness
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Jia Li shrugged. "Why is any target chosen?" she asked. With a sigh, she added, "It was probably to send a message. The Apostates used fire quite a bit to try to conjure up the image of the 1168 fire, which, among many theories, was to punish those for not following Daemonesu-kae's rules. This particular forest is a very sacred spot: each tree here had been planted by hand by my ancestors every season. It's one of the most visual interactions we have with the Goddesses. Since the fire, questions have been raised as to why the Goddesses did not save it from burning, which translate into questions about my suitability to rule." She shook her head. "Alternatively, it was to cut off one of the places at which I can commune with the Goddesses. Or to drive fear and uncertainty into the population." She looked deeply sad, not only depressed at the destruction of an ancient site, but also again feeling every casualty the Apostates had inflicted.
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Cetatsenia
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"Zat is fucking disgraceful," Gavrila said, shaking her head angrily. While she didn't believe the forest to be any more sacred than those in Cetatsenia, these people did. And the people who burnt it did too. Gavrila wasn't religious but even she thought that you didn't destroy religious sites for political reasons, especially if it was a site sacred to the beliefs you followed. But then again, the people who did it were terrorists and terrorists in general were a disgrace to humanity.
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Fenwick
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Ned nodded. He had been rather torn during the whole ordeal, much like Jia Li had been. Hikari had been a friend to him and his brother as they were growing up and had hated to see the twisting of her purpose by the Apostates.

"I can't say that I felt bad about the wrath that they brought down on their own heads," Ned said with a shake of his head. "They were a disgrace."
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Demoness
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Xel's jaw tightened; Ned talked as if the Apostates no longer existed, but they were still a threat. Despite the Ministry of Justice's optimistic timeline, several of the cells were still in operation and they were still a danger. Worse, they had had to ally with Vulareishite, an amontsu guild he knew he couldn't trust and he still waited for them to betray Jia Li. At least the culprits from the fire had been caught and punished. He tightened his grip around Jia Li's waist, bringing her closer so he could kiss her hair.

Jia Li nodded; she had very nearly lost her faith over the ordeal, believing her critics' accusations the Goddesses didn't support her. And then she'd had to prostrate herself on television in order to apologize to their Goddesses at the next ceremony.
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Fenwick
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Ned looked to Gavrila. "So, how much of a briefing did these two give you on me?"
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