543/The call of the Orange Pearl

The call of the Orange Pearl
Date of Scene:	02 October 2023
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Sunbreaker gets called to Gaito's palace again, this time to answer a few question by the Mermaid Princess of the Indian Ocean, Sara.
Cast of Characters:	Coco Kiumi, Hinoiri Kirara

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Coco Kiumi has posed:
A winged girl with cat ears, dark brown hair styled in ringlets and dark eyes in her late teens is skipping through the hallways of the Obsidian quarters,whimsically glancing here and there in her trip to the building.

The girl, who is wearing a yellow bandana on her head, a small dark blue tank-top with thin straps, an armband with brownish purple and reddish stripes on each arm, a dark blue short miniskirt with a reddish belt, and purple high-heels, opens her mouth in a wide smile that emphasizes her very rosy cheeks as she spots the figure she has been prompted to find.

"Hello, Sunbreaker-chan!" she shouts, approaching her target. "I'm Eril of the Dark Lovers. An esteemed guest of Lord Gaito wants to talk with you. Are you free right now?" she asks very cheerily. Clearly putting a tap on her energy levels isn't among her habits.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker glanced over at the weirdly excited girl. Here she was, already plotting her next move... and then some weird girl came to speak with her? What in the world...

Ahhhh. Lord Gaito? She gave a small nod. "Well... I don't have too much time, but yes, I could afford an hour or two." She crossed her arms, glancing around. "So... Is this the same as last time? A quick double teleport, or can we just go straight to the castle now that I've been there once?" she asked.

Well, her last encounter hadn't... quite been the best. The song had been pretty good, as someone from Kirakirafantastica that was a high honor. Additionally, if not for her hand she would have utterly trounced those girls. So her power couldn't be questioned. But, in the end... There was still the issue that things hadn't succeeded. Yet.

Then again, she was Sunbreaker. She'd figure things out, eventually. And her experiences on that beach had born some fruit, as it were, so she didn't mind sparing a little bit of time with Gaito's guest.

"Wait, are you the guest?" Unfortunately, she wasn't sure she'd had enough coffee today to deal with someone THAT high energy.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"This time we are going straight inside the castle. Unlike Isuru, I don't even have the Sealing Key with me", she explains. "Just grab my arm and we will be there in a second", she adds, excitedly extending her right one to the future monarch.

She chuckles and waves her arm in a dismissive gesture when Sunbreaker asks if she is the guest. "Of course not, Sunbreaker-chan, Lord Gaito would never use his prized guests as messengers. That is what we, who dedicate our lives to serving him, are meant to do", she corrects the unicorn girl, puffing her chest out with pride.

"Lord Gaito hasn't elected to share with us the identity of his guest, but she is clearly a woman of royal blood. Just like what you want to become, Sunbreaker-chan. Isn't it nice?" she grins at her, mostly cheerful, but with a bare hint of maliciousness behind it. "Let's go, now, you wouldn't want to make her wait." she moves her still waiting arm as a reminder. If Sunbreaker grabs it, the two of them are going to Gaito's palace right away.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker gave a small nod and reached out for the arm... but did pause for a second when she mentioned wanting to become one with royal blood. Oh. That was a statement. Royal blood? That implied that it was something that could just be injected. Put inside her.

No, she didn't desire royal blood. She desired to become royalty itself. Not the result, but the creation. But she imagined such a thing was beyond the understanding of most those here.

Still, whoever it was who wished to speak with her must have been important to recognize her own importance... and anyone who could realize her value, well... might make a valuable ally. She reached out and took the arm, letting herself be teleported out and to the sea once more.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
When the surrounding have finished changing around the duo, Eril and Sunbreaker are standing in front of a blue-grey door in the recognisable hallways of Gaito's palace. The former knows on the door before saying "Guest of Lord Gaito, Sunbreaker-chan is here, as you requested". From inside a voice as soft as silk answers "Let her in, then you can go. And tell Gaito you brought her to me".

Eril makes a nod and a salute before hopping away, though the salute feels more like she is playing rather than being serious about it. "Sure, as you wish." And after opening the door for Sunbreaker, the Dark Lover is there no more, only the small noise of the waves outside filling the silence that is awaiting Sunbreaker's entrance.

When the girl from Kirarafantasica will come inside, she will see a woman with long black hair and orange eyes wearing a plain white strapless dress sitting at the desk of her bedroom.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker cocked an eye when Eril just... poofed away. It seemed that the girls took their role as delivery girls quite seriously. Or maybe they feared, that much, upsetting their king. She was grateful she'd never been that bad. Upset Sora? Ha. She did that DAILY. Not like she ever worried about something small like, say, getting her the wrong tea or anything. Noooope. Definitely not.

Sunbreaker stepped into the room and... huh. She wasn't sure what she expected. But it wasn't that. "Gaito's guest, I take it?" she asked. Not Lord Gaito. But then, she was being introduced as 'Sunbreaker-chan', so she assumed titles were being ignored.

And she was a bit of a putz. "A pleasure." At least she avoided saying 'the pleasure is all yours' this time.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Welcome, Sunbreaker", the woman greets her with her soft voice, looking at her quite detachedly. "Gaito told me of his meeting with you last time. Apparently, you have met a mermaid princess last time, more specifically, the one that escaped from here. How is she now?"

The woman gets up from her chair and walks towards Sunbreaker. "I know that from her most recent altercation with you and Maria that she exhibited powers she didn't have before, so she is doing well if she has had the time to develop, but what impression did you get from her?" The woman's orange eyes stare intently at Sunbreaker, as if treating her as a piece of a puzzle.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker gave a small nod. "Yeah. Yellow Pearl Voice. How she is, welllll... not bad, from what I saw. Not quite as good a singer as me, but certainly passable. But then, comparing anyone to myself is always an unfair fight." For example, her ego.

"As for her new powers, I'm not entirely sure. All of the sparkle skirts seem to be developing new powers each time I see them. Which.... again... is pretty normal. magic is an ever shifting thing. Even I'm learning new magic all the time and I've been studying it my whole life. Her music was strong, if nothing in comparison to mine. If not for those other girls there to defend her, she would have crumbled. I can see why you lot have been struggling with her." A liiiiiittle bit of praise for the mermaid... but only to praise herself more. The Sunbreaker way.

"Why the interest? I get the feeling this is more than just 'I want to know how our ex-prisoner is doing' chat."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The woman nods in contemplation of what Sunbreaker just said, removing the alterations induced by her ego from the information she gave. "You can call me Sara." she gives out suddenly, as if she just felt that became ok to do. "Not many people compare to mermaid princesses, that's quite the accomplishment you have. I would love to see that for myself." 'Or put you in your place, rather', she keeps to herself, the vestigial pride in her role only slightly awakening from under the ashes it became.

She shrugs, giving out a feeling of sad comptempt. "What you saw is something quite improbable. Only Aqua Regina is supposed to be able to give new powers to one of the princesses. And yes, I realise sending out you and the Dark Lovers hasn't been enough to capture her again. I will have to consider where exactly we went wrong there" Sara bites back when Sunbreaker attributes the fault to them, still with a placid expression.

The dark-haired woman spends a few minutes considering the question about her interest in Yellow Pearl Voice. "Coco... was a dear friend once. And then I betrayed her for Gaito", she answers quite succintly.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker couldn't help but preen a little bit and nod. "Oh, I imagine not. But not everyone is the personal protege of a living embodiment of the sun," Sunbreaker said with all of the pride she was, well, to be expected. "Perhaps next time you can join us. I think you'll find my talents do not disappoint."

She sighed and glanced down at her hand. "Hmmm. Well, it seems your Aqua Regina isn't as powerful as you thought. Or perhaps she hid the truth from you and it isn't that she's the only one who can give her powers, and she just prefers that everyone bow to her." Mayyyyybe projecting onto Sora a bit there. "I can defeat her alone, but it's when all the girls gang up on me I hit a snag," Sunbreaker muttered. "Even then, I almost had her..." she muttered in annoyance.

However, the comment on 'dear friend' made her arrogant smirk fade away. "Dear friend, huh? Yeah, that fish bowl you had her trapped in shows just how much you value friendship. Not that I can blame you, it's pretty meaningless. Do you not want her to get back or something?"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"So, you are the protege of a living embodiment of the sun, and yet you named yourself Sunbreaker, that sounds like there is quite a story behind", she observes, prodding at her. "Was the sun shining too bright for you, so you decided it had to go?"

The black-haired woman nods, going on to confirm Sunbreaker's assertation. "She expended a lot of her powers around 300 years ago, and she never recovered from that. She shows up very sporadically now, typically if all 7 mermaid princesses summon her." A sardonic smile appears on Sara's face. "Sure you did", she mocks Sunbreaker, not really believing her. "I think I may very well take you up on your offer to see what your abilities are. "

Sara grimaces at Sunbreaker's last observation. "What do you know?" The atmosphere around her is much less calm and a faint orange glow has started appearing around her. "Only Gaito could console me when my heart got broken by the betrayal of the one I love. Neither Coco nor Aqua Regina could do nothing about it, so I don't care if I go back on my duty and let Gaito do as he pleases with the world."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker nodded. "Oh, I am. She saw what I could be... and so she tried to stop me. Unfortunately for her, I'm now aware of what I could be. So I refuse to just sit back and let myself stay as what she's comfortable with me being. I will be the Sunbreaker, who dethrones the sun herself and breaks the very binds she tried to place on me."

"I would have had her, easily, if that little useless minion of yours could have kept the others off my back for five minutes! I had that little yellow mermaid on the ground, broken! But then that stupid Sailor Moon interfered! Again! Which was HER job, not MINE!" Sunbreaker all but yelled, her flames rising.

Of course, the more Sara talked, the more Sunbreaker just rolled her eyes. "Then maybe they were just terrible friends. At the end of the day, the only one you can ever trust, ever depend on, is yourself. If someone... if you give someone your trust... when all is said and done, they'll just stomp on it the moment it's convenient. Then they'll try and twist it so it's your fault. Whoever your love was betrayed you, so you betrayed your friends. And so the cycle continues and all those friendships turned out to be a hollow and empty waste of time. Just like those hollow, empty fish bowls you're putting mermaids in."

And so... the snipping begins/continues.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Sara nods along to Sunbreaker's impassioned speech. "How was it, your trust being broken like that? I get the same feelings. In my case what my beloved did specifically was discarding me without a word, as if all the time we spent together meant nothing to him. So I will crush him, even if I have to grant Gaito's wish on the way."

"That wasn't quite the story Maria told Gaito. She told him you left her to fend for herself against two magical heroines, while you were wasting time continuing to sing even as Coco was writhing on the ground of the Live Stage at your mercy", Sara mentions to her as coldly as Maria's ice. "If she were here, she probably would complain about you being granted the song of the Black Beauty Sisters for nothing. Of course, she took a book from Gaito's collection and lost it, so she isn't quite in his graces right now."

"The only one who really stomped on my trust was Mitsuki, though I suppose Aqua Regina's weakness isn't really helpful either. Coco was pleading pathetically not to thread this path, even going so far as falling into an obvious trap and getting herself captured just to try and appease my suffering."

Sara's smile is at equal measure sadistic and pained. "Shows how much she really understood me. That wasn't enough to stop me, and her second tentative now she is free won't be enough either. All 6 of the tanks will be full soon", Sara now gazes displeasedly at Sunbreaker.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker was silent for a long, long moment then. Considering it. "I... was her student. Her protege. She told me almost every day, if I worked hard, if I dedicated myself... I'd one day be great. Incredible. Like her. I could be... like her," Sunbreaker said, her fires dimming slightly. It was pretty obvious this hurt to think about, but... "Every... day... then, one day. She told me to look in a mirror. It showed me my destiny."

"Me, as an alicorn. Ruling besides her. After that, she grew distant. Cold. Bitter. Angry. I thought, at first, I had done something wrong. But then I realized. It wasn't that she was upset at me for failing. She was angry I was succeeding. She'd never believed I would be great. She believed I would be her student, forever. That my glory would forever belong to her. That I would, forever, be another member to her audience. Watching, hanging on her every single word. When she realized I was... capable of being like her? Everything changed. She tried to stop me. To shove me aside. To... to hold me back. And I was confused, but I persevered. When she realized she couldn't stop me from pursuing it... she banished me from the castle. So I left. I know my destiny now. I will not be denied it. I will become an alicorn and return triumphant as I ever should have. And she will learn she should have aided me as a comrade... instead of becoming my enemy."

She certainly did like to talk about herself.

"As Maria, well, she was lazy. My job was to capture Coco, which I was doing. Her duty was to keep the girls off me while I did it. She was also being enhanced by my power, my song. They were crumbling... but she failed to do even that. Useless. If she hadn't fallen over so pathetically, we would have her in that fish bowl."

There was a small eye twitch there and she glanced away. "Wait. So you didn't even really capture her? She LET you put her in that fish bowl? It really brings it full circle, doesn't it?" Sunbreaker asked before she turned and started to walk away.

"She gives her everything for you, you exploit that friendship to your own means. Another sign that such things are a waste to depend on, but useful if they can be exploited. Your friend sounds like a foal and she'll be crushed before long. Is there anything else you need from me? I certainly hope you're not expecting me to offer to be your 'friend' or anything like that. I'm not Gaito, I have no real desire to see you smile. Nor am I Coco, I don't have friends, nor a dependency, on making other people's misery less."

"In the end, I desire the power I need to continue my growth. I aid you for that reason and that reason alone. Nothing more. Nothing less. This is purely transactional... Sara-chan," she said that last bit in a somewhat mocking tone.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"You are quite strong-willed", Sara comments. "To have the realisation you are being duped on your own... and then have the strength to act on it... I might just have to commend you", she says, her tone indicating the last sentence as a concession, rather than something Sunbreaker by herself gained. "But how did you come to be stuck here, and what are the chances your mentor might send people after you? We do not really need any more complications, between all the factions in Tokyo, with whom we have this tenuous alliance going on."

Sara gives Sunbreaker a cruel look at her 'friend' comment. "I just wanted a debrief on how things were going, on what you have observed of Coco, and what she was doing. Coco's loyalty, or naivety as you want to call it, is something I have seen a lot back then, and I do not think she lost any of it since then. She is still trying to get me back. With a friend like that, I certainly do not need your friendship, nevermind the fact you are literally a 'who?' to me.

Sara nods, her expression the same as before. "May our transaction go well, and let it stay on peaceful terms up until its end."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker went entirely still then. Mentor... sending people after her. Sending someone for her. That was it, wasn't it? There were others here.... who had people come for them. To save them. To rescue them. But... "Nobody is coming for me. Don't worry about that," Sunbreaker said.

Because in the end.... she supposed she wasn't worth it. Sora never saw her as a threat worth pursuing... and nobody would ever come to save her. To help her. Never... ever...

... Never.

They had their chance. So now, she did it alone.

"Good, then. Happy this is all sorted. I'll go ahead and head back now. I'll go find the person with the key. Pleasure doing business with you."

She promptly made for the door, her flames gentle, small. Her ire... growing more than she cared to admit.

... Friendship. What a joke. Sara was just like Sora. Selfish. Greedy. Didn't care who she hurt. Nothing like her. Just another user... This is why none of it would ever mean anything to her. Because she'd never mean anything to anyone either. And she was fine with that. Stupid fish bowls.