high_seas | (no subject)

Alice gave a relieved sigh as Mana pulled them into a hug. Coming out and saying how she felt on this was... scary, almost as much or more than saying some other things had been in the past few months. It was something that could have ended very poorly, had Mana not been Mana. While that sort of sick feeling remained in the pit of her stomach, realizing she had actually succumbed to that sort of jealousy, her tension eased considerably.

She was worried about what might happen if Regina was just told all of this, but... She was also not wiling to try and cover up how she felt for Mana and Rikka. Better, she figured, for Regina to discover it first hand than on accident. At least... that was what she hoped, and just had to pray she was right.

"Right, of course, Mana..." she murmured. "I truly do want all of us to be happy. That is why, whether it is today or some other time, it feels important for us to speak our true feelings on everything. So... thank you." As she said that, she glanced over at Rikka, still holding onto the blue Cure's other hand. Those last two words went to both Mana and Rikka, as she really was so very grateful that, in spite of Alice feeling so ill towards her own feelings, there was someone else in line with them there.

She would have liked to just stay like that for a little while longer, but she gave a slight, resigned sigh.

"Makoto-san will probably be here soon, as well..."

"I'm going to hold you to that, Mana." It comes out softly, but after a moment, she follows it with something else, a little stronger: "I'm counting on it. If there's anything else I can do to help, let me. But for now... I don't think I'm the right person to convince her. I'm barely the right person to do the dishes." Which was another sore point - literally as well as figuratively - but that wasn't something to worry about now. She didn't say anything else to Alice, but then, she didn't need to. She'd already said volumes by speaking up so the heiress didn't have to, and she didn't need thanks for it. Sure, it was how she felt, but... Alice didn't need to make herself feel even more depressed by having to put words to those feelings. Rikka already had.

But the last comment makes her want to just not let go of Mana and Alice and refuse to move... but that'd be too selfish, in more than a few ways. "She probably will. And Regina is probably wondering what we're getting up to down here. I can already hear her asking really uncomfortable questions... well, she's allowed, I guess."

Mana nodded resolutely. "I know," she said. "Once we get dinner started, I'll ask Regina to help me, and... I can talk to her then."

She led them out onto the deck again, and looked around for where Regina might be.

Unfortunately, Regina's plan to find a bucket of paint and redecorate the flag had been a bust. Turns out they don't keep paint above deck, who knew? Such a shame.

Instead, Regina was floating up by the flag, trying to make heads or tails out of it. What kind of symbol was this thing supposed to be, anyway?

She was still peering at it when Mana and company made their way back up to the deck before noticing them. As soon as she did, she was back down amongst them, all smiles and cheers. ~~To contrast them, of course.~~ "Mana! That took forever!"

Indeed, it was around this point that Makoto finally arrived. It had taken her a bit, as she'd explored some of the town first and afterwards had a little trouble finding the correct ship. She... hated to admit it, even to herself, but they all looked the same to her. However, when she spotted her friends on the deck of this ship, she was positive she finally found the right one.

Smiling, she hurried over onto the ship and called out to them.

"I'm here!" And thank goodness for that. "Sorry for the... wait..."

The reason why she was trailing off? Yeah, uh... guess who's spotted Regina? And guess who stopped checking the journal after she received word from her friends, as she didn't expect to find anything important after that?

...

Yeah. This was more than a little surprising to Makoto. And not a pleasant surprise, at that.

"R-Regina?!" Yeah, uh, she's not very happy to see you, Regina. Sorry about that. "What are you doing here?!"

Ah, from bad to worse.

Alice gave a startled yelp. She'd been so caught up in her own worries she hadn't thought about the clear and obvious fact Makoto might have a less than pleasant reaction towards seeing Regina there in the flesh. She felt quite foolish for that for just a moment, but also saw this needed to be diffused and fast.

She held out her uninjured arm and took a few steps forward.

"M- Makoto-san, hold on!" she sputtered, and then composed herself. "This Regina-san... She is not from the same time as us! She comes from sometime well after us, and... She appears to have changed."

She lowers her arm and sighs. From being defensive over Regina, to defending her. Just what in the world were you doing, Alice?

"I know it may sound hard to believe, but... she appears to be quite genuine..."

Oh dear.

Mana surged forward, putting herself in between Makoto and Regina.

"She's right!" Mana declared. "Regina has changed! She's not affected by whatever her father did to her...! I swear, Makopi! She... she did and said things that Regina would never do!"

Then, she stepped forward and tried to take hold of both Makoto's hands. "Please... this is a happy occasion! Even if you have doubts... you can trust something I say, right...?"

What else could she say? Rikka and Regina had barely talked in the first place, either here or at home. And Mana and Alice had kind of covered all the bases just now...

"Um... hi, Makoto... I'm sorry this is the first thing you're coming in to..."

Mana was now standing between Regina and Makoto, but Regina wasn't the type of person to let something like that get in her way. She peered around Mana's shoulder, giving a friendly wave. "Makotoooo! I'm joining Mana's crew!" She hopped around the Mana-barrier at that point, looking as friendly as possible. Which, since Regina is a crap actress, means it was genuine.

Also, there might be a very familiar spear strapped to her back. Just something to note.

Thankfully, the interference of her teammates did succeed in stopping Makoto in her tracks. Not that she would have attacked Regina without a word, but she certainly wouldn't have been calm about things. Still, she wasn't really sure how to feel about this.

Regina turning over a new leaf again? Well, on the one hand, it was a bit hard to swallow. Especially given how hostile she had been the last time they had seen each other. On the other hand... Well, Makoto wanted to believe in her, at least a little.

"...alright." She took a deep breath and tried to remain peaceful. "If you say it's okay, then I'll try to believe it..."

Oh, okay and there Regina was now, suddenly addressing her in a very friendly manner. She couldn't help but be a little taken aback by that. And who could blame her, really... But she'd try not to be hostile, at least.

"Ah... Right. I guess we'll be crewmates, then."

Hesitantly, Makoto tried looking Regina in the eye as nicely as she could... when she suddenly spotted that spear. Oh dear god, what the hell was that doing here?! Sorry, calmness gone, we're back to very wary again.

"W-Wait a second..." There was no mistaking it, was there? That spear had to be... "That's... That's the Princess's spear! Why do you have that?!"

Just when things seemed like they were calming down again, there came Makoto's last comment. Alice had been wondering just where Regina had gotten a spear like that, but there was so much else going on it seemed like the least important element.

When, indeed, it might have been the most important element.

"The Princess' spear?" Alice asked, eyelashes fluttering for a moment before casting a confused look back to Mana and Rikka, then a skeptical one towards Regina. "Regina-san... just what are you doing with something of Princess Marie-Ange's...?"

Mana blinked, and stopped, wheeling around to stare at Regina again. That... that was an interesting question. And yet...

"... Regina, is this like the royal crystals? This isn't the first time you've had a connection to something related to the princess..."

The gears were already turning in Mana's mind. Did Regina have some connection to the princess? And yet, those crystals also had a connection to someone else they knew...

Rikka was rapidly losing track of this conversation. Regina had something linked to the Princess? Something else, now?

"Wait... if we're looking for the Princess, but you have her spear..."

Either it'd been left behind in the Trump Kingdom... or Regina had met their wayward princess somewhere since they'd seen her last. Which... was a problem.

That suspicion was back in Makoto's tone. In Alice's, too. Regina wasn't so blind as to not notice that. But why were they suspicious? Didn't they already decide to trust her? Why wouldn't they realize that it obviously meant the spear chose her?

She was about to say as much, but a stray thought hit her.

They were all from... earlier. They didn't know the truth. They didn't know any of the truth. Behind Regina and Aguri and Ai, behind Ange-Marie.

And Makoto...

Makoto was devastated. Regina remembered, she was there, when Marie-Ange used the last of her life force to talk with them one last time. Makoto's tears and sadness. Telling her the truth would unleash all of that.

What was she supposed to do? She could tell them the truth, but Makoto would be devastated. She had just arrived in another world again, was this really the best time to tell her? What would Mana do?

She couldn't pull Mana aside for advice, though. Everybody was looking at her. Waiting for an answer.

She could always lie? But Regina never really lied. She wasn't good at it. Truth be told, everybody watching her could pretty much watch her thoughts unfold across her face. (Wonder what they're thinking about that?)

Lying wasn't the right thing to do, was it? But if it spared her friend heartache, then it had to be the right thing to do.

Well, she could always just hide the truth now, and ask Mana what she should do later. These kind of situations weren't Regina's forte, she didn't know how to handle them, but Mana surely would.

Right, yes, that seemed like a good plan.

Putting on her most neutral expression, Regina replied, "The spear chose me, that's all."

Yup. Smooth. She totally nailed it.

Well, that sure wasn't strange or suspicious at all. Especially after Regina was quiet for so long and looking so odd. Makoto narrowed her eyes.

"...what does that even mean?" Normally, Regina's strange response might've led Makoto to be a little more forgiving and open. But this was about the Princess. Her Princess. So she can't leave the sharp edge out of her voice. "Why would it choose you? That doesn't make any sense."

Alice watched Regina's actions closely. While what she said was still suspect, the way she reacted was a whole other matter. It was clear there was something Regina did not want to say, but... Alice could not bring herself to think it was out of malice.

This also could not afford to get out of hand. Someone would have to get the truth out of Regina eventually, but... This involved the Princess. Clearly. If that was the case, given the concern she had already shown over Alice and Rikka's injuries... Was it something for Makoto's sake, if she could truly take Regina at face value now?

...if for no one else's sake for the moment, it seemed most prudent to hold towards Mana's faith, at the very least.

Mentally, she thumbs through everything she does know, and...

"Regina-san, did you... help us in the end? Is that what this is?"

It was thin, and she didn't know if Regina would pick up on it, but any attempt right then to at least point towards her supposed genuine intentions needed to be played to at least keep this from blowing up into something much bigger. They could figure out the truth of the matter later.

Edited 2014-02-22 15:46 (UTC)

Mana couldn't help but notice the expressions running across Regina's face. In a sense, Regina felt like a wholly different person right now. And she saw who it was directed towards...

"Makop-... Makoto..." Mana said, reaching out to put her hand on the other girl's shoulder. She had used her friend's real name... Not only that, she had stopped herself and done so.

If only to give the other girl a sense of the seriousness she felt, because she didn't know how to say anything better than Alice did.

Edited 2014-02-24 09:53 (UTC)

Regina's dilemma... did a lot to convince Rikka. She'd noticed, the first few times they'd met, that Regina had a very, very hard time not wearing her heart on her sleeve. So she agreed that something was weird here. Alice's theory... made a lot of sense in that context. But it's a leap of logic she's not prepared to make right away.

"Help us...? Regina did? But that... I don't understand. We know her as our enemy. She shot us. Do you think that... between now and then...?"

...She's starting to get a headache.

"...Eh?" Regina looked confused for a moment. Not because she was caught off guard, but because, well, wasn't that much obvious? "Of course I help you." Or, well, she supposed it might be better to say that they help her.

....Oh, wait. Waaaait. She gets it now. This is to help explain why she has the spear!

.........Best not to tell them that she got it beforehand, then. When she was still fighting them. Probably.

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1/IDK

2/10,000

3/infinity

4/forever

5/the horizon

6/10,000,000

7/7

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