1274/Crack The Sky

Crack The Sky
Date of Scene:	13 March 2024
Location:	Clover Tower
Synopsis:	After creating a spectacle, Bow, Hannah Steiner, and Cure Suzhen respond to Aloisia Stauss' 'greeting'.
Cast of Characters:	Aloisia Stauss, Bow, Hannah Steiner, Yaling Yao

---

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
A relatively normal day in the Pikarigaoaka Ward, slightly rainy and dreary, most people running around with an umbrella or otherwise protecting themselves from the rain. The tower itself is mildly bustling even with the rain, the view of tokyo in the rain still a rather pleasant one from the tower, and tourism marches on regardless of literally just about anything, really.

Meanwhile, in a maintenance room that she'd slipped into off to the side, a young woman wearing armor reminiscent of a much older time is quietly working on some sort of strange device, an innocent looking thing which was being attached to one of the supports of the Tokyo Tower itself. Or Clover Tower now? Well whatever. A few cranks. A few adjustments. And then a few buttons hit, and soon...

Nothing. Because the Indomitable Princess, Knight Aloisia was setting this up to be a theatrical event, really.

<RUNTERZAHLEN. NOCH 60 SEKUNDEN UBRIG.>

Knight Aloisia slips out of the maintenance room, sprinting for one of the exits to an observation deck.

<NOCH 30 SEKUNDEN UBRIG>

Off the deck, and into the sky, then up to the top of the tower, where the best view will be.

<BEAMER ACTIVIERT.>

And then... it's like a bolt of energy shoots up from the base of the tower, everyone presently inside of it briefly seeming to lose their footing and having to grab onto something as the energy shocks through the electrical system, except for Knight Aloisia who was already ready for it.

And then that bolt of energy shoots up into the sky.

And there is nothing, for a short while.

But a subtle light is continuing to shoot out from the top of the Clover Tower. And slowly, over the course of about 30 seconds... clouds are beginning to move. The rain being pushed back as what should be daylight is replaced with what looks to be the night sky. But not one that most people would recognize.

No, that is the night sky from a different perspective. All of the stars in wrong position. Many of them unrecognizable, and even a series of different moons. Slowly, the ring of clouds presses out further... further... further... until it stabilizes to about a half mile, centered on Clover Tower and its surrounding park/businesses.

If Hannah Steiner could see, she would recognize that night sky. It was a slightly different perspective. But it was clearly a projection of the night sky in Steiner Space.

Aloisia, meanwhile, is standing there, quietly admiring her work as she holds onto the tower.

And everyone around the tower seemed to be just that tiniest bit more tired.

<BEAMER STABILITAT BESTATIGT.>

"And now we wait to see what bites the bait."

Bow has posed:
After the visit to the shrine earlier, where he had met Ami, Rei, and Zoisite, Bow had continued his explorations, trying to learn more and more about this strange world that he has ended up in and he's been wanting and desiring to explore. Even the threat of rain had not kept him away for long - having figured out the umbrella he was holding as he had finished a visit to Clover Tower.

He had just prepared himself for a trip back to the school when he glances back towards the tower, and notices the light being eminated upwards. And it feels familiar, deep in his gut - where had he seen this before?

The opening of Light Hope back on Etheria, just as Etheria was pulled out of Despondos, that's where. That seems even more likely as the sky seems to be changing and his eyes open wide in worry, "Crystal Hope... is that??"

From his earring, a soft chime and the form of Crystal Hope, a young woman in crystal form, shows on his shoulder. The AI is already running scans. "...It is not the Heart of Etheria, if that is what you are asking, Bow. But I will require a closer examination is you want a more involved answer."

"Closer?" Bow asks, setting his expression in a determined mein. "We can do closer." Grabbing his henshin device from his pocket, he presses down on the Etheria app as he goes into an unoccupied restroom at the base of the tower.

"FOR THE HEART OF ETHERIA!"

Calling that out, he goes through his henshin change, the Etherian teen's normal clothing replaced with the armor, bow and quiver of his homeworld. Grabbing the tech pad from his kit, he links Crystal Hope to the technology of their homeworld. "Start scanning, find us a point of reference, Crystal!"

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah was in the middle of an ill-conceived grocery store run, umbrella and one very strangely water-resiliant doggo at her side! When all of a sudden? The sky changes. She can feel the shift, and Lyra's barks upwards make her senses all the surer that /something/ has happened.

One side alleyway later? Trager des Blauer Greif immediately initiates a Wide Area Search.

The grinding of teeth and outraged growl from the Steiner Royal may very well announce her coming as much as she's leaping away, following the trail of data to the source of that mockery of her homeworld's sky!

"When we find this sanktkaiserless heathen, Lyra!!!!" She barks to her now-lizard guide compatriot, blade already drawn as they leap and levitate across buildings towards Clover Tower!

Yaling Yao has posed:
Yaling is an extremely energetic girl. She is pretty much inhexaustible in any scenario that she is gonna going to face in her daily life. Any scenario except one, that is. For someone who has ironically inherited powers over the rain from the teachings of the Old Woman of Mount Li that Bai Suzhen got, the damp weather is a very effective way of bringing her energy levels way down.

It is a good thing then she is safely shopping indoor, enjoying the warm air of the Tower's interiors as she goes about looking for anything that might strike her fancy (likely sports or romance mangas, even better if both at once). It would be her lucky day though if something pushed the rain away for her, which is the one power she doesn't have.

Everytime she passes a window, she uncomfortably glances outside at that energy-sucking rain, before going back to her business. Or not, when she notices the sudden letting up of the weather, with what looks like a serene night sky. "Hey, BaiBai, do you know what this is?" the green-haired girl whispers to the snake at her neck. "Other than it being unnatural?" the fairy replies. "This is completely unknown to me, but I feel a discharge of weiwang at the top of the tower."

"Oh, well then!", Yaling exclaims, starting to run in that direction, with only a small detour for an isolated space. "Wellness, Warmth and Wisdom from White Snake's gaze! Historic Legacy, Cure Suzhen!" she exclaims, playing the etheral jade pipa that appears in her hands while she transforms, before resuming running to the top of the tower, now with henshin speed.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     It's not hard to find the point of origin, that being the tower itself. Where it /is/ in the tower, is a bit... harder to spot. What isn't particularly hard to spot is that there is what looks to be a pair of giant shields on /top/ of the tower, even from a distance. Seriously those things are huge, the fact that Knight Aloisia can lift those things is likely in part due to magic in and of itself.

And also there are searches being pinged out from Aloisia herself, keeping an eye on approaching energy signals that are likely to be mahou, as well as not bothering to mask her own signal when doing so. Like a pair of radar pinging against each other. And, in fact, when Blauer Grief's Wide Area Search is noticed, there is a return-double-ping from two devices ID-ing as Unbezwingbare Schwester and Unaufhalsame Schwester. More or less the devices saying hello in the most cheerful manner possible. They would also attempt to ping Crystal, once it starts scanning!

...This is likely less obvious of a hello, being likely like two foreign languages interacting. But it's not an aggressive ping, more of a 'hi hello yes I'm here'.

The rain itself is not actually energy-sucking, though it is rumbling with thunder and lightning at the edges and raining /moderately/ harder, which might be energy draining in and of itself just because oh gosh why is it raining so hard *here* in particular what the heck but it's not that bad.

In fact, in general, the energy drain is... extremely mild. Aloisia had made sure that it was ~just~ enough to be what she considered a fair trade and unlikely to harm even the weakest of magic users.

...There might be a few people who are very keen on a nap right now.

Still, there were magical signatures, and they were beginning to approach... and once they were more or less intersecting reasonably close to each other, the Belkan Knight would leap from the top of the tower. "Doppelwand."

<GEFANGNIS DER>

<MAGIE>

Another familiar feeling. As one of those barriers begin to spread. Communications jammed. Cell phones losing signal. Those without magic disappearing.

And then relatively in the 'middle' of the three other magical people's general locations, crashes down Knight Aloisia, cracking the ground around her and disturbing the earth at the same time.

"Ah. I see you saw mein hallo. Beautiful, is it not? A sky I will never see again with mein own eyes most likely."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah's fury isn't so much quenched, as thrown into wariness as the twin signals work through her head thanks to BG's relay. Could this be two Device Users working in tandem? Or maybe a single User that's relying on a pair? No matter.

Blauer Greif very simply offers an acknowledgement of the pings in a superbly old Ancient Belkan way. Formal, and slightly tired, while also responding to her User's emotions with an undercurrent of irritation.

Such a subtle energy drain is missed by the Steiner trio, too busy on flying up Clover Tower by purely abusing her gravitic magic to do so.

She pops up /just/ as a Knight makes herself alight, two unknown others about too, and a Barrier melts into being.

Still gravitically floating very much near one of the clovers, using the metal to keep herself and her Lyran Razorhound beside her, claws already openly limbering themselves.

Hannah's smile is devoid of warmth. She's thankful for those golden henshined glasses that hide her tears, at having her world's sky poured directly into the tactile-mental construct she'd been able to create with her Device, her parents, and even Lyra's fierce hisses back home.

Really, she should be more polite to the two others around her, but she's rather distracted and emotional. Lyra gives Cure Suzhen and Bow a hiss, somewhere between welcome and implicit threat in case they turn out to be enemies.

She also should be more subtle. But this is clearly another Belkan, and one that knows the Tharkadian sky.

"Beautiful, ja! ...But such words as yours of never seeing it again speaks to the mind of a feigling! You, mein freund..." She trembling, her gauntlets hiding white knuckles.

"Are either intending to mock the good citizens of Tharkad, or are one lost from our planet und have a poor way of summoning allies!" Oh yes, she's /angry/.

Blauer Greif and Lyra both know what she's about to do, but Hannah decides this affront isn't one worthy of keeping her identity secret.

"I am Trager des Blaeur Greif, otherwise known as Countess Palatine-Apparent Hannah Emilia-Lina Araki-Steiner the Fourteenth, rightful heir to the Great House und ruler of Tharkad whomst sky you have appropriated! State your name und allegiance, if you would be so kind!" She does, at least, give a Duelist's bow against the heavily armored Belkan Knight, and obtusely towards Bow and Suzhen alike.

That haven't been forgotten, it seems. "Und I would ask the same of you both!" While no less commanding, it's less harsh, maybe with a hint of apology for clearly getting them dragged into Tharkadian affairs. Her and that big feathered blue lizard seem to be tracking all three, or rather, five when counting the pair of Devices that Aloe wields.

Bow has posed:
Back into the tower Bow goes, making his way towards the banks of elevators that lead up to the observation level, he climbs in, pressing the button for the observation deck... and up they go.

As they do, he listens to the pop-rock music playing some song in muzak format, his foot tapping to the tune as he listens. There's a lot of music in this world, he's realizing and he may need to take the time to sample a little of it. Something to discuss later.

Crystal Hope feels that ping of greetings, and sends one in return, in the native language of the First Ones. It may take a few times before she understands what they are trying to say, but once she does, she'll look to locate it so she can guide Bow to where he needs to go.

As the doors ding and open, Bow has an arrow prepared as he comes out of the bank and onto the observation deck and then the access stairs so that he can arrive where Hannah arrived a few moments before he did, ready to draw and fire.

And then Lyra is hissing at him, and the Etherian's teens eyes widen as there is exposition!

"Ah... oh, you two know each other? Well, if this is like... a quarrel, and you know, you were just trying to get each other's attention?" Because this just seems like something someone would do that's a Cat that would try to get a certain Princesses' attention. "Would you mind too much if maybe I just went and turned off whatever this..." a broad gesture with his arms at the illusion, "...and you two can talk it out? Maybe over tea? Or the Korma Chameleon? Food's really good there!"

A big smile, hopeful. Surely, they'll accept his terms and talk it out!

Yaling Yao has posed:
"Hi, yes, your hello is very noticeable!" Cure Suzhen exclaims to Aloisia's declaration. That sky is so wholly unfamiliar that she'd be hard-pressed to miss it, not to mention the light rising from Clover Tower itself. She is unsure of what to do here.

Yaling would have pinned this on her simply being nostalgic of that odd sky, wherever it came from, were it not for the weak drain that is slowly but surely sucking her energy. For real, this time. Probably applied to the whole Tower. Is that girl using it to maintain that weird change of the sky?

"I understand you might be far from home" Yaling speaks in a clear uncertain tone (is this a girl whose fantasy has gone a bit too far, or actually the real deal?), "but this does not mean you have to inconvenience everyone for it! I am sure a standard projector in a dark room could help you enjoy your home's sky without all this", she tries to bargain with Aloisia.

Her tone become way less uncertain as she listens to the plethora of titles Hannah is declaring. Whatever is going on here, they are both clearly serious. Well, if a snake-woman-fairy from centuries past is real, why not aliens? She does a polite slight curtsy towards Hannah, in acknowledgement of that clearly royal title she has stated, before addressing her question. "I am on the side of whoever upholds the wellbeing both mental and physical of the people, and isn't seeking to disrupt history. I don't know of the place you come from, but if you intend to stop the evil that courses through Tokyo, then I welcome you as an ally, Countess Hannah-Emilia! My name is Cure Suzhen."

"And I am Bai Suzhen, this girl's companion", BaiBai interjects from Yaling's neck. "You shouldn't fear any ill intent from the two of us, as long as you do not intend to hurt anyone."

"A lover's quarrel?" Yaling repeats when she hears Bow speak. Is that really what's going on here? Trager seems quite angry. "Listen, if that guy over there is right, I can offer you a very good herbal tea, that invigorates the mind and the body alike. That would help you talk things out with a clear mind, I assure you of it!"

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     Hm. An undercurrent of irritation from the device. Interesting. They must be very close. unsurprising. It was likely the countess had been gifted that device when she was exceptionally young. No doubt they would have bonded. Or something. Hannah arrives, and one of the other magic people seems to have slipped INTO the tower itself. Hmm.

No matter. Even if it were disabled, the device had already done its job, and gathered a reasonable amount of energy too.

"A coward, hm? And here I believed your friend said this place did not let people leave." The knight crosses her arms, those giant shields floating next to her as she rests one hand on one elbow, the other hand tapping her lip as she seems to think deeply for a moment. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Pause.

"Tharkad? Nein. This is Tungeturn's sky. Similar, but about five planets away from Tharkad. A little dirtball your wonderful ~nobility~ considered to be barely worth its time. Until the TSAB showed desire for our crystals, of course. Not that our mining operation got much more support. Nein, just more demand for our precious crystals, the cores of devices." She shakes her head.

"Such a wondrous thing to have in our very own system, but nein, selling it off to our invaders."

Trager des Blaeur Greif. Countess Palatine-Apparent. She'd suspected the first time they'd met. She gives a soft sigh as she dips into a curtsy towards her, one hand grasping the edge of her armored dress. "Aloisia Stauss of the Tungeturn Defense Force. I do not have a formal title like yours, though my nickname was 'Shield Princess' due to how my device's barrier jacket looks. Countess." She takes a deep breath.

"It's been so terrible since the coup. Did you know? The instability. Everything falling apart. I had to flee. The coup did not end with the fleeing of your uncle." She shakes her head, her voice cracking a little with emotions. Mixed ones. She was forcing it towards sadness, but there was an undercurrent of rage of her own. "Mein own parents taken in the wake, it was all my mother could do to send me out in an ancient ship that was not supposed to ever fly again. Insufficient supplies. My funds cut off." Some vague energy was beginning to swirl around her as each word causes more and more anger to seep into her voice. Sadness disappearing.

"All because you and your uncle could not finish what you started."

Ice cold. Vindictive. A calm, but swirling rage.

Bow's comments are listened to... vaguely. She glances towards him. "Lovers... LOVERS QUARREL? Ha... hahahahaha... love..." She shakes her head. "That's gone. That was torn away from me. But ja, it's in one of the maintenance rooms. It is harmless though, just un lightshow. I calibrated it to a fair trade. I am not un monster. I do not intend to cause harm to those unrelated to magical quarrels."

If Bow actually does go search for the maintenance rooms... he would, in fact, find the device relatively easily. It's very obviously alien, just hooked into one of the support beams accessable from the maintenance room.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Its screen is in belkan so it might take some translation, but hey. She wasn't lying that it's there. And belkan is basically just german so it shouldn't be /that/ hard for an etherian from another world to figure out, right? Clearly it's that big red button. Or the little switch?

"Ah? I suppose a dark room would work for this night sky. But then it would not have drawn you in to witness it, ja? This is to share it. Und also I suspected it would draw the attention of a certain par-- noble." She glances towards Hannah.

Trying to be relatively diplomatic trying to be relatively diplomatic. She even mostly got rid of the icy tone when talking with the others, instead mostly sounding like a grumpy person barely holding in their excessive grump! "I do not particularly care to disrupt history. In fact, in a way, I am here to assist in correcting it to how it should have ended." Those last few words come with an edge of danger, the vague friendliness she'd adopted when talking to Bow and Suzhen dropped.

Followed by immediate and sudden movement as the devices ping in unison.

<WALKURS KUSS.>
<WALKURS KUSS.>

And in a burst of movement, she is, surprisingly, right there in front of Hannah. An energy field covering one of those shields as it is SLAMMED towards the countess. "Tharkand shall be returned to the hands of the people. Instead the hands of corrupted, filthy nobles."

Says the minor noble.

Bow has posed:
"Harmless, you say." Bow shakes his head. "Harmless and causing an energy drain." Unless there's two seperate devices, but for now, he's working off the idea that there is just one. And then Aloisia goes into the story of their conflict, and what is happening here, and he tries to be helpful.

"So look, I'm not from your world, but where I am from, we have Princesses and Kingdoms that are under the attack of a mechanized enemy that is industrializing parts of our home and trying to crush it all. And even in that, there could be conversation... and you know, instead of just attacking her, we can sit and talk this out instead of being witnesses to a..."

Nope, too late, there goes Aloisia. As she rushes off to go on the attack, he's torn between assisting Hannah and deactivating the device. In the end? He's hopeful that Hannah can hold off Aloisia for at least a couple of minutes, because as the tech guy, he's already going to deactivate the device to stop the drain on the area.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
While there's quite a bit of twitching on Hannah's brow's part, Bow's desire to just turn off the offending lightshow, both the young man and the projection being obviously magical, does much to at least lower Bow's threat level in her mind, and tug him upwards in potential allyship.

"Good herr, it would be a service to the Great House of Steiner if you were to turn that karking thing off!" Comes the young woman with a firm nod. Lyra is suddenly a lot less hissy his way, and with a slight nudge from Hannah, is even sending the loyal lizard-thing closer to him to act as a guard-freund!

Or rather the next hiss is more a friendly one, if Bow can interpret the range of Razorhound hiss pitches and tail wiggles!

Cure Sezhen is a bit more formally diplomatic about matters than Bow, and the white snake about her neck clearly being some sort of familiar, puts Hannah more on her ease towards her. Plus, she sounds like a Pretty Cure, and she's never heard of one of those mahou being the type to not punch evil in the face.

"The Great House Steiner welcomes you, frau Suzhen und Bai Suzhen, honored geist! Indeed, I wish to cleanse the many curses against the Sankt Kaiser's bounty that exist in this little backwater as I am able. But tea und formal introductions later. Mein apologies, for mein world is currently...fractious." She greets and briefly explains.

She notably decides to ignore the mention of 'someone getting hurt'. It helps to be so experienced with the life of a mahou by now, and the fact that this Belkan Knight may be an ally or enemy.

Some of all that rage seems to just chill as Aloe corrects her. A mental consultation with BG, a tilt a few planets...yes. She was so distracted by the nearness, she didn't catch on to the discrepencies. Maybe even her Device is homesick at this point.

Her hand doesn't relax entirely, but all of a sudden, the young Royal has only ears for this strange knight from a mining backwater that's proved such a wonderful underpinning against old galactic wounds.

Mentally she's known these things would happen, have happened when she left home. But being confronted by the aftermath of a coup, even one against her family and its' fallout on those less highly placed? Well, it's a bit sobering, really.

Silence. Just. Utter silence, and her expression is a mask for long until it seems Aloe is almost done.

"The honest truth, Ritter Stauss? I martialed loyalists, set mein planet und those allied by treaty to ensure all that mein House has built since the fall of the Bad Old Sankts shall remain, that there might be some way of keeping order. Because such was mein duty." She comes, neither wrothful nor ashamed. The young woman feels completely justified in her actions.

A shake of her head. "Und then I set off after the murderer of mein parents, to set him to Justice! Perhaps a colder ruler would have remained und let him die in the stars, but what Belkan's heart is made of ice!? I can hear your wrath und your pain! I..." Her teeth grit. She feels bad. But her blade isn't stayed.

And then she makes her gambit /real/!

<Turmschild> Comes Blauer Greif, and one hand lifts up to meet those twin ones with an energy-based one! A clash...and Hannah is smashed down two floors of the dimensionally displaced Clover Tower!

She pushes herself to her feet, and suddenly, the sheath of her Device is into the air rapidly, and charting a course to the back of Aloe's head!

<Schwerkraftwurf>

"If you have mineral output concerns und their allocations, I should happily hear such things personally. But if you believe /another/ calamity against the Great House shall lead to naught but destruction, then turn your gaze to any other Sword broken during histories past, und tell me a wholesale slaughter of the ruling body will make things better! By the Sankt, if you hate me so much, lobby the lower houses und have me deposed!" Shouts Hannah suddenly, her fury brought back by Aloe's sudden audacity.

Lyra, meanwhile, follows Bow! She even seems to offer her claws

Hannah Steiner has posed:
She even seems to offer her claws if needed, like really, really big wire snippers!

Yaling Yao has posed:
Yaling is doing her best to follow along all these new names, even if they are quite similar-sounding. Which honestly makes her feel they must share a similar cultural background, at least? She is pretty sure those sentences she only vaguely understands are in german, at least. German aliens? Aliens that adopted German? Germans that adopted an alien language? She just doesn't know.

Yaling listens to that speech of Hannah that is reserved to her and to Aloisia both, taking out of it that she is trying to do her best with a very thorny situation. "We can talk later then, Countess, when the Shield Princess has called it quits with her attacks!" This way of referring by titles is a bit too stuffy for her. She should remember to ask Hannah if addressing her simply by name would offend her, but later. Now she has Aloisia to address.

"I am sorry that you were wronged, Shield Princess, but that doesn't mean you can just act impulsively. Let's all discuss this, and I am sure you and the Countess can solve this in a peaceful manner. But if you insist to fight, I am going to calm you down by that token. Sorry to be a third wheel with your Kiss, but accept my Torrential Embrace!" Yaling exclaims, clasping her hands together, a call to a flood of water, that starts from the Precure aimed straight at Aloisia.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     "It is draining ~just~ enough to maintain the device and then a mild low level drain as reasonable trade for the lovely sight. Relatively harmless, ja?" The knight comments in response to Bow. "Should cause no more strain than walking up a short flight of stairs or two. Small children should be excluded. One does not mess with babies." A knowing nod. She's fairly calm. Until the comment of 'talking it out'. Her voice drops to that icy tone again.

"My parents are dead. HER parents are dead." Aloisia responds icily in response to Bow's argument. "I do not believe constructive conversation can be had. Honestly, I am surprised that both her /and/ her uncle are alive. It makes absolutely no sense. Und I hear they have... a... ceasefire. It is ... honestly... laughable. I do not understand it. I do not understand how this is still ongoing. I HAVE BEEN IN SPACE FOR OVER A YEAR HOW IS THIS NOT RESOLVED ALREADY?!"

That is half-yelled at Bow and half-yelled at Hannah. In spite of her agitation, she does seem to be not aggressing anyone other than Hannah. For the moment. Bow is not stopped, as stated already. ...There's still no real defenses. No barriers. It's just there. Slightly hidden away in one of the maintenance rooms. Still in space german.

Hannah's conversations are, relatively respectfully, not interrupted by Aloe herself, to be honest. She's not actively antagonizing the others, for the most part. Even her antagonism against Hannah is being somewhat tempered. Somewhat.

Hannah is making arguments. Statements. Defenses.

A part of Aloisia Stauss knows she's wrong. Knows what she's doing is wrong.

But if she accepts that. Then what does she have?

"The ancient wars! The modern coup! Nobility has always been a PROBLEM for our worlds! Your family did admirably in trying to fix things afterwards, but the rot is inexcusable! You may not see it from your royal throne. You may not see it in your comfortable, happy little world!"

PING. The sheath of the device is not even dodged.

<Unzerbrechliche Mauer>

An unfamilliarly written defensive spell, one that is nearly a treasonous act to reveal, being borderline a secret weapon that is usable by only one ancient belkan device. Or rather, a pair, designed for wielding by partners.

Why would anyone have both of those devices?

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Oh thank the saint. The razorhound is gone. Aloe didn't have to resist her instincts towards a seeing eye dog anymore.

"...If only the lobbies were such a possibility for someone so far down the totem pole."

If only Aloe knew.

She'd probably hate herself.

...More.

"I..." She seems to hesitate. Were those tears?

"I fought so hard. Trained so hard. Basically since I could walk. I AM A DEFENDER OF THE PEOPLE. I FOUGHT THINGS LIKE YOUR SEEING-EYE DOG ALMOST DAILY! TO PROTECT PEOPLE! And yet... and yet..." Those are definitely tears. "PIRACY! THEFT! The things I had to do just to make it here *AND YOU HAVE A CEASEFIRE*?! You und your uncle are just ... just... off ... in your corners... letting things BE?!"

She's not attacking just yet. Though there is the subtle hum of energy charging.

Shield princess. Acting impusively. "Aloisia. All of the people who would call me 'Shield Princess' likely would not do so anymore." There was a defeated tone to her voice. An empty, hollowness. The tone of someone who is utterly broken and empty. The torrential embrace is unleashed!

And shoots towards Aloisia, who just braces herself against it, her shield being spiked into the ground to keep her from being washed away. She had been distracted so no proper barrier was erected, so the water did wash around the shield, dealing some damage to Aloisia's Barrier Jacket, parts of it looking ragged in places. A thing that, at first glance, probably doesn't look like it means much.

"I only have one thing left, I hope you understand."

The device is pulled out of the ground with a crack.

<TREIBAR MODE>

The bottom of the twin devices split at the bottom, a large spike sliding out of the center with two large spikes on either side of it. Energy was arcing between the two sides and the central spike.

They are lifted and aimed towards the two girls.

"I apologize, Cure Suzhen." Vzzzzzzzz!

<GELADENER SCHUSS.>

Two large bolts of energy are launched towards Hannah and Cure Suzhen, bursting upon impact into blasts of blue energy.

Bow has posed:
In the meantime, Bow and Lyra are off on an adventure! When the razor-hound approaches, he gulps for a moment. "Good seeing eye beast, I taste terrible, I promise." the Etherian offers. "All stringy and muscles, not very marbled." But when it comes that the beast is there to help, not harm, he lets out a sigh of relief.

There's a brief glance towards the battle that has unleashed in the sky and sighs. "We'll hurry this up, and I'll let you get back to your countess!" he promises the creature as they run as he grabs a hold of the railing and slides down the stair casing to head to the maintenance room. Knocking the door open, he makes his way in to find the Belkan device. And when he arrives at it, the Etherian frowns slightly.

The bow is folded back into place, and he goes hands on, trying to figure out how the device works. And more importantly how to shut it down. As he does so... he starts to hum that tune from the elevator in his head. Oh no, he's been attacked by the worst of the enemy tactics - the earworm.

And the worst part is that he has no idea what he's humming and singing along with.

"...and there's a bathroom on the right..."

As he continues to totally hum and mis-sing a little off-key to Clearence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising, he continues to work on the device, figuring out. "Oh, hello. I think I might have it here..." Click.

Nothing happens. Until starts screeching loudly that he's triggered an alarm. So very loud.

WHOOOOP! WHOOOOOP! WHOOOOP!

"WRONG BUTTON!" he yells over the din, fumbling to turn it back off. "Sorry about that!" And he works to try again.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
"Ja, I look forward to it." She...tries to offer that usual blunt cheer, but given Aloe's accusations, her voice just seems a bit flat with undercurrents of her upset that someone trying and vaguely failing to control their emotions might give.

But the Pretty Cure lives up to her name, and while Hannah is stubbornly mum about peace with this disgruntled noble child of a mining colony technically on her watch, the water flood is a sense to chew on.

Oh yes, she's going to owe Suzhen and Bow lunch at this rate, and her pauper-Palatine's wallet aches at the thought. Honor, Hannah. Honor!!!!

Her entire body tenses as the truce is brought up. Only for her body to shiver, and the in turn? Tense back up.

"Forgive me, dear Ritter, but did you not say yourself that this boundary, this /CURSE/ und /BLASPHEMY/ is..." She swallows her words, if only because for the sake of Usagi's lineage.

"I am bound by treaties, I am bound by making mein claim to the throne und escaping this world, though I admit it finds a place in mein heart, Ritter Stauss. The wrong step under the TSAB? Und I risk another war, should even a /single/ fragmented message get out! I...Nein. Nein, that burden is not yours, Ritter Stauss. Mein only." All of a sudden, she feels weak on her feet.

She swallows the bile filling her throat.

"Kark it, traitor or loyalist, I welcome you to dispute mein actions in the Sankt Kaiser's way, blessed be Her Peace upon us, that we fool children so often fail to live up to." Now...she just sounds tired.

And the words about Aloe's parents are weighing on her shoulders heavily.

It's Blauer Greif that tries to offer a defence to that bolt of energy offered to her. Another <Turmschild> that is suddenly broken by Hannah's free elbow before her sheath returns to her Device. She's suddenly pin-eagled to a radio tower, her Knight Armor taking most of the blow even as it dissipates.

She slumps to a knee.

....Doesn't she deserve it, for leaving her realm leaderless on this search of vengeance, and being hampered by the TSAB, trying to cleave to old laws for her realm's sake? A catch-nothing proposal. But if she betrayed it? Her Uncle would throw Aloe's world into even worse of a place than they already are.

She pushes up with a groan.

And then offers the Shield Princess a bitter smile.

"...You clearly hate politics. If you believe lobbies und appeals und nothing shall free us from this world, then I shall abide your suffering und hatred, as a good ruler shall. Come. Let us both at least be worthy Belkans." Encourages Hannah, with a crack of neck.

What else can she really offer Aloe?

Lyra, meanwhile, tippy-tappies her claws as Bow sings along! What a smart...well, big lizard thing! And then she's squirming and HISSSSS-ING at the loud noise!

She waits juuust a few more moments as Bow works.

And then simply sniff-snuffles for the biggest set of power cables that might power such a Dark Device, and then there's /jaws/ ready to be deployed!

Bow is likely to be witness to the biggest electro-fluffening of lizard-dino-murder-seeing-eye-dog shock of all time, but eventually she's rolling back with...uh...she's clearly smoking a bit but also spitting out quite a bit of electronic components!

...And then does this cutest hiss-whimper for PETS at Bow!

Hannah simply raises her blade, and all of a sudden, gravitic forces wrap about her blade to form a dire lance into the air! Feet set. The counter-gravitics settle into something that's...while obviously not stable, at least clearly in her control. Her Device locks onto Aloe and her Devices, in a clear intent.

Rather than the excitement usually in her when she's about to really put her back into it, there's this layer of consigned resolution to it.

She can't back down from a rebel's fight, after all, for her House.

Yaling Yao has posed:
Ok, Yaling is very confused now. There is too much she doesn't know, so can't really address any of it. The only thing she knows is that Aloisia is clearly hurt, very clearly hurt, in a way that her pain radiates off of her in an unmistakable aura. Whatever it is that actually happened obviously won't be solved in an easy manner, and even if helping Hannah is the right thing, by now Yaling just feels completely disoriented in this feud.

"I am sorry, Aloisia", Cure Suzhen tells her when she reveals the situation behind that title. "I won't use that name anymore, opening old wounds has never been my intention. And yet, you are very clearly in such a pain that even retialiating against Countess Hannah won't help you find peace, even if you win. You can even be able to solve the crisis you are focusing onto, but honestly I can't see how you would get peace of mind that way."

And then Aloisia's own attack answers back towards the Precure, a panicked hiss coming from BaiBai lost in the energy crackle of the weapon while Yaling faces the impending beam that is going to clearly hurt. She barely has the time to wrap BaiBai under her blouse that the attack hits her, leaving her bruised and pained, the only consolation that her henshin clothes have managed to steer away the attack from her fairy.

"Let's stop this, please", Cure Suzhen groans. She never thoughts her own medicinal arts would have to be used on her later. "You are not thinking straight, Aloisia, so please, let's just stop. Countess Hannah, this fight is going too far and failing to produce results", she says, that ethereal jade pipa reappearing in her hands and a verdant field appearing on the tower, a jubilation of aromas that starts healing both contenders and Yaling while the latter plays.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
In spite of being harmless, messing with the buttons randomly... is probably not great. Aloisia probably should have given some sort of instructions. Luckily Lyra is there to try to help guide him, probably. Because when he presses random buttons and triggers an alarm.

WHOOOOP. WHOOOOP. WHOOOOP. WHOOOP.

The device begins to speak.

<ABSORPTION ERHOHT. EVAKUIERUNG EMPFOHLEN.>

And it was almost like a weight was applied to the area. The drain that had been extremely mild was suddenly a lot stronger.

Good thing it's in a barrier, right?

"...Scheisse. I should have given him instructions." Aloisia mutters as her device pings. "...There's only so many buttons, I figured he'd find the off switch easily enough." Luckily when he tries again... it... doesn't make things worse? ... It's not better.

...But it's not worse! ... It's raining a little harder at the edge of the ring.

"Off switches are universal, right? ... Right???"

Curse. Blasphemy. Bound by treaties. Talk of the burden being only Hannah's burden her burden alone. Traitor or loyalist. "...I suppose I would technically be a traitor, in your eyes. What little it matters to be the traitor to the venom that drains the life from our worlds."

Traitor. Saying that out loud echoes inside of her head.

Especially in the face of the almost. Reasonable response from Hannah. Ugh. But at least. The talk of. Hating politics and at least being worthy belkans. She could get behind that at least. "The major noble houses don't listen to something that is barely noble in name like my family." They might have, considering the hidden truths.

Hannah approaches with a raised blade. Gravitonic forces wrapping around as she approaches her. "...This is not being worthy belkan." Aloisia almost sounded disappointed, as that device is destroyed and the lightshow -- and energy drain is lifted.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
<Pyramidenfalle.>

Hannah, and her attack, are rather suddenly entrapped within a reinforced pyramid of barriers, her attack striking it, causing it to crack. "Such weak resolve." Energy was beginning to gather in the central crystal rods of the twin shield devices.

<AUFLADEN.>

"Can't do honor to anyone."

<Schlossknocker.>

The energy pushes to the end of the crystal rods, which begin to glow with intense arcing energy, as Aloisia Stauss leaps towards Hannah, one arm lifted behind her before... thrusting it forward into the breaking barrier, gravity and pinpoint energy meeting each other as energys tear through the area, Aloisia's pinpoint strike sacrificing defense for just the moment. As the first strike is aimed for the center of Hannah's stomach, and the crystal spike... shooting forward with a KA-CHUNK.

It's lucky that Hannah has a barrier jacket to slow it.

A defense-piercing attack on an extremely defensive mage should be illegal.

And yet here she is. Standing in front of Hannah, her second shield lifted as if to do a followup attack of the same caliber.

She even tries to bring herself to. Multiple times. Her arm moving towards Hannah, only to hesitate, as the energy continues to grow stronger with a keening hum.

For some reason, in spite of her words... her anger... her attack doesn't have lethality behind it.

Retaliating against countess Hannah won't help you find peace, even if you win.

Peace. Haha.

...Let's stop this.

That second attack doesn't follow up against Hannah. The keening hum of it.

<ALARM. UBERLADUNG.>

Crap.

That second shield is quickly redirected and aimed up to the sky. Ka-chunk. The crystal spike launches out, doubling the length of the shield as the focused energy bursts out. Clouds that had begun to creep back into place being re-disrupted as the energy shoots out up into the sky. ...They might not be coming back, this time.

And she just. Stops for a moment, as a verdant field appears, aromas and healing magic washing over the area.

<WAND MODE>

The spikes retract back into the shields.

"Such weak resolve won't solve anything, Countess Steiner."

Aloe steps away from ... whatever... is left in the wake of the pair attacks. Luckily they were in a Barrier. The knight's barrier jacket heavily damaged. She pauses, glancing towards Cure Suzhen. "...I am glad you did not get knocked off the tower. I can make my attacks nonlethal, but I cannot make gravity harmless."

Bow has posed:
Learning new technology is a hard thing to do. Especially when the world is in chaos around you, and you're trying to figure it out. Normally, Bow could figure these things out quickly. On Etheria, he's been working on First One's tech for a while now.

First One's tech and Belkan tech may share the same root, but that's about it. So, as he sets off the alarm, and increaes the pressure of the darkness, he frowns. He can get this. He wasn't that far off the mark of figuring it out. He only needed just a few more moments...

And then Lyra comes to the rescue and shuts it off. There's a blast of electricity that he's sheltering himself from, and when it's done, he grunts, the smell of smoke coming off Lyra in his nose.

"Are... are you okay?" he ask the razorpiece, patting it on the head. "I'm glad you're okay." he offers when he sees the happy tail wag. His attention turns back towards the device.

A little sigh. He made it sound so confident he can handle it. Instead, he looked like a good-intentioned idiot. Removing the device, he drops it into his bag. He'll study it later. He'll learn, and he'll add it to his tech pool.

Next time, he'll get it right.

Pushing to his feet, he glances towards Lyra. "I don't hear yelling, cursing or attack names being thrown around. I think it's safe to find your mistress and return to the others, huh?" And with that, he's on his way.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
It really, really seems like neither side is willing to budge, or really either side is /happy/. Part of her will appreciate the Pretty Cure's devotion to diplomacy when she's running over her pile of regrets tonight. But then isn't now, and she's already settled into showing another Belkan's grievances by the most base form imaginable!

Hannah hears the pleas of the PreCure, and somehow even as she wields her gravitic spear? Somehow, deep down, knows that she's right. She shouldn't be acting so rashly or hurt or so defensively for her actions. That a better diplomat, a better RULER would maybe at least have things on a proper duel.

But by the Sankt, she's not her Father, so silken-tongued and yet so swift with a boot.

It's been a while since she's felt so much like the lost child she is, as Cure Suzhen's words rake in her mind as better-headed wisdom.

Weak. Will.

Is that's why she's on the ground? Is that why she's on concrete, smashed from that pyramid to smash through her own defenses right towards her barrier jacket, shattering the many noble layers of armor, and leaving her punched into the Clover Tower as her energy dissipates from her hand? She groans.

A part of her prays to the Sankt Kaiser that she's alive, as it seems her fellow Belkan spares her.

"This...is not over..." Offers the young Royal weakly, even as she gasps, the sudden garden erupts around her, and she simply lets herself sink into the PreCure's Garden with the only tension being her gritted teeth.

How can she let down her House, her Parents, /and/ this ill-begotten knight? The shame fills her, and she only vaguely manages to avoid curling up. Her emotions calms, and then suddenly? She's just tired. And then shudders, with a sightless turn to Cure Suzhen's playing.

Lyra, meanwhile, nestles into Bow's pet! A hiss! Even a slurp! But at his words upon her owner? One more big ol' hiss, a bump against Bow's legs...and she's running off to recover her fallen mistress with a worry!

Yaling Yao has posed:
"Thanks", Yaling replies to Aloisia when the knight expresses some sort of concern for her. She has a way to fly, but saying it would spoil the attitude Aloisia is taking so Cure Suzhen does not bring it up. Instead, she sighs with relief that the attacks on Hannah have stopped when that last one scattered the clouds. "What will you do now?"

This was going to be so close, luckily the guy from earlier was probably doing his own things in the background to stop the device that attracted their attention in the first place. It would have been so much more complicated otherwise.

And then Hannah collapses into her garden. The plants hopefully cushioned her fall at least a bit so she doesn't have to worry about the possibility of her getting more bruises.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     The device is ... possibly not very useful to examine after being chomped by a razorhound. Those things are vicious and it wasn't exactly a huge device. There's definitely some technology left of it of course! But the act of eating it. Definitely uh. Didn't help it. Luckily it had already done its job, so Aloe likely wouldn't miss or care much about it. Okay maybe she might. In hindsight. Later.

Also luckily the only person who saw him was himself and a seeing-eye dog!

Meanwhile, Knight Aloisia stares down at the battered and broken royal, the precure garden around her. It would be so easy. She's so vulnerable now. Curled up there. Not even defending herself.

"..."

How could you think that, Aloisia Stauss.

You've never killed a person. You refused, even with the worst pirates.

You'd become a worse monster than any corrupt noble could be.

She takes several steps away from Hannah. "You're right. It's not over, you foolish princess." She mutters under her breath. How the heck was she going to face Otto after this? The chance to end this all and she's just. Giving it up???

There was interference. Yes, that's it. There was interference. That's how she'll word it.

She'll still get to keep her place if she says it that way. Right?

It's not her fault. She didn't fail. She succeeded.

What will you do now?

"...I suppose you've beaten the bad guy." Aloisia says, and then she steps towards the edge of the building to simply. Step off of the edge, the weight of the shields carrying her down to the ground with a crash in the distance. As she does, the barrier disperses. Leaving some confused people as they watch a cosplayer with giant shields, questioning what event she was going to.