2694/Teas and Wings

Teas and Wings
Date of Scene:	10 July 2025
Location:	Kingdom of the Ancients
Synopsis:	Glimmer finds herself in a whole new world, and the only one who knows her there is Fuku. The latter goes with her to Michel to understand what's happening and keep it going, and it's soon clear Fuku and Michel have opposite goals.
Cast of Characters:	Coco Kiumi, Glimmer Brightmoon
Tinyplot:	The Dreams the Tide Cradles

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Coco Kiumi has posed:
It all changed in the span of seconds. The boring normal Obsidian room that was currently housing Fuku and that half-angel girl that was doing her bidding at the moment is replaced by patterned walls that turn and twist in ways she is intimately familiar with, but a surprise that shows up on her face, a wide-eyed stare that feeds on the sights currently before her.

But the changes had involved far more than only their positions, and the situations they were in. She could tell that it was a completely different situation from Obsidian, and there was one really easy explanation her body refused to accept. But well, she was no longer looking up at Glimmer, no.

She is now having to gaze down to meet the pinkette's eyes, but it takes her a while to do that, her mind focusing on the fresh breath she craved without much expectation she was ever going to find herself in this situation this soon.

With fingers she can now actually snap, she calls for a mirror, recognising her body despite millennia of separation, millennia of shock that forced her to inhabit the body of a bird to keep herself together. A smile starts widening with the swelling of tears, and her arm reaches to touch the impossible reflection, and with a test, she moves her wings to their full wingspan, a smile that turns cheery. This really was her, again.

She would have kept admiring her reflection if not for the shimmer that vibrates out of nowhere, with a voice that almost floors her. "Fuku, where have you gone? Come, join me again", it asks gently. The voice itself is familiar to Glimmer, but not anything else, exhibiting now a timbre that lacks the arrogance she first heard it with.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon had been having a rather... well... she'd been doing homework. This school thing was... admittedly, not the biggest fan. It was a bit boring. Sitting in class for hours. Getting droned on. Forever. Or maybe it just *felt* like forever. She wondered if she actually died at one point or it just felt like she left her body.

Either way, when everything began to shift and change? Uhhhhh... her first impulse was clear. She glanced around... There was only one person in the room with her. "FUKU!" she yelled out. Her rod appeared in her hand. "Get behind me!" she said, dashing in front of her as things began to change and shift and...

Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough. And then...

Then a lot had happened. And she was... somewhere else. A few minutes later, she was standing somewhere else. And she felt... different. Very different. When they arrived, for a few moments, she was staring up at a.... new woman. With rather large wings. Angelic wings. Weirder? She had wings of her own. "GAH!" Glimmer said, looking back at them. Hers were made of pink light, though, and they spread out a moment later, before fading away... Making her blink in bewildered confusion. "W-what?" she asked. Her wings hadn't done that since she'd first attuned to the Moonstone after her mom had... well...

She then looked over to the other bird... Girl... Woman.

"... What?" she asked. "Wait... Fuku?!" she asked. "You're... gorgeous," Glimmer said. "But... ummm... You're... so *tall*," Glimmer said, motioning to her with both hands. "How? Why? When?" she asked.

"... Is that *Michel*?!" she asked, her mouth falling open. "He sounds... where ARE we?! Wait..." And then... she poked Fuku's stomach. Was... it a hologram? Was this some first one's tech level nonsense? Because she'd been through that stuff before!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
There were moments of confusion about it at first, but oh did it feel good to be rid of that insignificant body, and to have everything in place once more. She would have spent a lot more minutes enjoying the sensation if not for the fact that she was being called, and Glimmer's presence at her side.

"That I am, it has been so long since I could be myself", she smiles confidently, patting Glimmer on the back. "You have blossomed too, look at your wings", the woman touches their light essence briefly. Some rule of her world? Weird, but she can run with it.

She raises an eyebrow when they fade away again. Guess there is only so much a miracle can do. Still if the Michel she has always known is here for real, it should be quite easy to start looking into the cause and give her a hand. She doesn't actually need her to become a perfect vessel now, but Glimmer may always partake of their abundance.

The restored Ancient scoffs at the poke and grabs Glimmer's hand, leading it away. "I am in fact real", she lets a small part of the annoyance through. "And so is Michel. Not sure what has happened, but it's time to be happy. Something tells me he has reobtained his true essence, and you deserve to enjoy the benefits too."

With that, she starts leading her along, and though at first it took her a while to reorient herself, in a matter of minutes, she is moving around the palace as if she had never left, as if it had never been reduced.

What confused her all over again was the sight of several other Ancients gliding around and chatting as if they too, had never left. More than once she felt the doubt felt the doubt that this was a dream caused by Alala, but she had to remind herself that she would have felt it happen.

Her heart jumps in her throat once she finds the door to the Chambers open, and him just on the other side. An invisible barrier, made of awe and disbelief, keeps her in place while she runs through the full gamut of her emotions. "Let's enter now", she tells Glimmer, as if the pause were a favour she had been doing to the pinkette.

"I didn't expect you to come with guests", Michel looks at Glimmer amiably. "Welcome, please have a seat", he gestures at a nearby table. "I will soon send for refreshments. It's quite interesting that Fuku came here with someone", he tells Glimmer directly. "May I know your name? Is there anything that brings you here?"

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon looked even more confused when she touched Fuku and... yup. Definitely real. Something was deeeeeeefinitely up. She didn't resist having her hand pushed away. "Yeah... uhhhh... my wings do that," Glimmer said. "It's from being half human, I think," Glimmer said. "My mom's wings were much bigger, but mine only really grow to full size when I'm fully harnessing my power or using a really big spell. Otherwise, well... never really get that big."

She followed along, looking a little bewildered at all the angels. She'd only ever seen the one, her mother. And they weren't... like her mother. They were... different. A different energy, a different vibe. Similiar, but not quite the same. Maybe it was because they were from different worlds?

... She snapped her fingers on her other hand. But the connection the the Moonstone was... back. No. Stronger than ever. How? She didn't feel *any* dark energy. She felt... amazing.

Then she came to the room and stopped. And saw Fuku stop. And well, she waited. Ahhhhh. She knew that look. A small smile on her lips. She didn't say a word, though, she'd been there. When she found her mother... That... feeling. That wonder. That excitement. She let her take her time, only stepping forward when Fuku invited her. And when Michel called her forward, she stepped forward as well.

... Something was definitely up. She... definitely had absolutely no idea *what* was up, at all. Tiiiiime travel? Holograms? Some kind of weird... dimension... thingy? Was Michel having an episode? Did Catra pull a lever somewhere?

She snapped her fingers and her father's magical staff appeared in her hand, before, with a flourish, she curtsied politely, gripping the edges of her cape as she held the staff aloft. "Greeting, Lord Michel. I am Queen Glimmer of Brightmoon, of the Planet Etheria, a friend of Fuku. Uhhhhhh... I... could not truly say what brings me here today, admittedly, as I am still figuring that out," she admitted, before rising once more, the staff disappearing once the curtsy was done. "But it all seems quite lovely from what I've seen so far."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
There is a poised nod by Fuku as she absorbs the information. A shame, that Glimmer finds herself so limited on account of how she was born. But they know the cause, they know the aid, going from there to finding a more permanent solution should be an easy enough matter.

But everything in due time. For now, she has to find out how they all came back, if it has any weak point, and patch them. And if anybody tries to make use of them, get rid of them as well. She is not sure she can rest easy, with something that sprung up on them out of nowhere. Is this all a castle of cards that will fall down just as easily as it has been built?

Michel nods, taking note of Glimmer's introduction, and seeing Glimmer choose to stand, wonders whether it is Etheria's or Brightmoon's norm that the host sits down first. If Glimmer is hamstrung by those rules of polite conduct, he should lead by example, he resolves.

He moves towards furniture to his left while he replies to Glimmer. "That must have been a very long journey that led you to our Planet. I wonder how is it that they let a royal guest land without any courtesy, but I trust that Fuku has at least given you the due hospitality, if you call her a friend. Do you want anything? Tea? Water? Coffee? Juice?", he grins softly to Glimmer.

He gives a curious look over to Fuku when she sits down, pondering that look of bewildered awe she had at her first entrance. Not really what he would have expected from her", he muses, while retrieving the other Ancient’s favorite rhubarb tea and a teapot.

Filling it with water from what looks like a wall tap, and then lets it go in midair while a fire sparks underneath, considering her invitation. "Do you have any question then?", he finally sits down.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon ironically, didn't feel limited by her wings... but wouldn't have been surprised to find out someone thought she did. She was the daughter of an angel and a sorcerer, there were benefits to each. Not everyone could see both.

The comment on the trip, however, made her face break into a wide grin and she had to suppress a full snort, a hand moving up to cover her mouth before she managed to cover it up with a much more dignified giggle. "A-ah, you have *no* idea. It has been *quite* the adventure. And our-- my visit here has been... quite... impromptu," Glimmer said, glancing towards Fuku out of the corner of her eyes again. "Not... entirely intentional, admittedly, but welllll... once I was here, you know what they say?"

And then in a flash of pink light, she disappeared, only to reappear in the seat directly besides Fuku.

"Ohhhhh it has been *so* long since I have been able to do that you have *no* idea. Uhhhhh... Sooooo... I have a feeeeeew. Actually. Just a few teensy... tiny... itty bitty... questions... Well. One major question that would kind of... likely spiral out from there."

"... Where exactly... arrrrrre... we?" she asked.

Glimmer asked with a big, innocent, as queenly as she could make it smile. "Oh, and tea would be superb, cake, if you have it. I would love some chocolate ice cream cake, but I'd make do with a nice cupcake."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Fuku takes the tea offered to her by Michel, turning as still as a statue, radiating contentment the moment she has the cup in her hands. Ah, to enjoy again the warmth of tea seeping through her fingers. Truly, you never know how important things are until you lose them. Truly, it has been so long, she agrees with that much. "Thank you, Lord Michel", she smiles, gingerly adding one, two, three, four cubes of sugar with small splashes.

Glimmer's question causes Fuku to freeze again, but with a cautious eye directed towards Michel. She has to be careful not to let things spiral, there is no doubt he would give it his all to help Glimmer come back if she asked it, and the renewed Ancient hardly believes Glimmer could be sent back by herself.

Michel faintly glows of white, and it is with another smile that he talks to Glimmer. "They told me chocolate ice cream cake will be here soon. I hope you don't mind a bit of wait. It will be worth it, I assure you", he remarks, pouring boiling water into a teacup which is then delivered to Glimmer alongside a various assortment of tea leaves, all carefully packaged and labelled. Each of them presents chibi drawings of various angelic figures. The one on rhubarb leaves is clearly Fuku. "Please, pick the one you enjoy most."

"I see you got your powers back, Glimmer. That's wonderful news, dear", Fuku clears her throat. "I do hope you are enjoying it here. And if something is amiss, please, go to me immediately. I will solve it as swiftly as I can." Fuku's eagerness earns a nod of approval from Michel.

"As for where we are, you are in Shinar, the kingdom and land of the Ancients. The city we are in is called Gate, and it is both the entrance and the capital of our realm. I am surprised you haven't been told", he tilts his head curiously. There is certainly more to Glimmer than meets the eye, all the more so if something unlocked her powers just now.

"We have time for all the questions in the world, Miss Glimmer. And I think I would be able to answer them better if you shared your adventures with me. It's very unusual for someone to appear here unexpectedly. Have you been kidnapped, and rescued by Fuku? I will do my best to right any wrong that has been dealt to you", he replies quite sternly.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon shook her head. "Not at all, a bit of wait is fine," Glimmer said before sitting up, her posture actually... perfect. Well, she was a queen. Just because she rarely USED her training didn't mean she didn't have it. She... did know how to do what she had to. And she was in the presence of people who... helped her.

She took the tea in one hand, one hand gently moving over the leaves, before she chose ones she seemed satisfied with and began to make the tea. She chose the Fuku ones. Well, she knew Fuku. She was one to choose her friends. And, oddly neat and tidy, unlike she normally was...

Even teleporting over to the wastebin to drop the garbage off, if there was any.

"Ehhhhh... less... that," Glimmer said. "More... I ended up here. We... ended up here. My friends and I. On your world, your highness. I come from another world, Etheria. The short version is, well... We were at war with a terrible, world conquering monster named Horde Prime. After kicking his butt, one of his weapons ended up, well... teleporting my friends and I around. My mother ended up trapped inside the Moonstone."

She snapped her fingers, the pink sparkles appearing in her fingers. "The source of my powers. I've ended up in a lot of places and... well... just recently ended up here. Fuku helped me free her. But uhhhh, its been all quite recent and I'm very sorry. Its all been a bit of a flurry and like..." She teleported back to her seat, drinking a little tea. "Its all been happening very, very quickly. I'm a bit frantic at times and have been rushing her at times, please forgive my rudeness for not introducing myself earlier."

Then, however, a frown formed on her face. Wait... The Moonstone wasn't... it wasn't on this planet... but she could feel it, so how... Oh. Ahhhhh. "This is Earth though, right?"

... So the Moonstone could reach along dimensions, it seemed. Or at least somewhat. Welp, that was convenient, or at least in this case it did. Or maybe...

"Though, while we are from different planets... I think we do share a different ancestor of sorts. On my mother's side, at least," she said, before closing her eyes and focusing her power. Those tiny, pink wings on her back grew, radiating with magic to full length, until they were every bit as wide and majestic as a proper angel's, shimmering pink and sparkly. "Though the only other angel I met was my mother. I hadn't even known they'd existed on this planet until Fuku found me." She turned and gave the woman a grateful smile. "It's kind of neat, like finding out you have these long, long, long lost cousins you'd never even heard of."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Michel looks at Glimmer directly the whole time she speaks, letting her words fill the air completely. Fuku didn't speak either, anxiously waiting to see where this was going. She was trying to think of a lot of things, lots of ways to stop Glimmer from saying anything more, but she came up blank. Short of wanting to look suspicious to Michel.

Michel's hand slides to the left when Glimmer makes her selection. "It seems like the two of you have the same taste", the emperor of the Ancients regards Fuku with a smile. "Want to find a place for her art? Maybe I should draw her next to you", he looks at her with lips upturned. Whatever was going on with Fuku's unusual guest and her, it is intriguing and relieving that Glimmer seems to feel so sincerely about the other Ancient.

Even if whatever was going on here was definitely odd. For not one guest, but many of them to slip his notice? "Please, excuse me for a second, Miss Glimmer", he tells the pinkette, and reaches out for information about any other arrival. Minutes pass, but everyone he talks to is sure noone came from outside of Earth.

"I am not sure any of your friends are here, Miss Glimmer", he replies like a zephyr brushing the grass placidly. "But I will do my best to keep checking. Do you want to leave me with a description of them? I will be sure to leave them with the important details", Michel offers. If Glimmer really has no friend here, he should probably start using other searches.

"We are a little bit further in as far as Earth goes", Michel starts sipping his tea. "But yes, we are inside of Earth. A long time ago, my people and I were about to leave Earth, but we decided to stay, so yes, this is undoubtedly part of Earth."

He laughs candidly at Glimmer's proposition. "I see. Family... That's a refreshing perspective. You seem to be right that we are of a similar make. Perhaps you are right in assuming a connection. I want to look more into it, and tell you if anything comes out of it."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon glanced over at Michel. "Oh? You draw? I didn't know that," she said with a small smile. However, as he reached out to the other angels, she just looked curious and a bit confused. Yuuuup. Definitely ancestors, but nooooot directly related. Anything that involved THAT kind of thing would come more from her dad, than her mother. Ironically.

She took another sip of her tea, watching for a few moments. Before shrugging. "Ehhh. I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you see a tall blonde with a sword and no self awareness, or a cat girl who's always angry, let me know. Otherwise? I doubt they're here. I think it was the Moonstone that sent us-- me here," Glimmer said. "Probably?" Glimmer said, before shrugging.

"It works now, so... not sure what happened. And... I'd kind of lost my connection to it. And so it's fine. As long as I can feel it, I'm sure I'll find my way back to it, eventually," she said with a shrug.

"... Wait, *inside* earth? Like... in the middle of it? Like the Heart of the Earth? Oh, wow... I hope you guys aren't like, building a big mega weapon to store all the world's magic here, cause they did that on Etheria and like... we already released on stored up magic thing and rather not have to do that again, thank you very much," she said with a laugh. She then teleported, sitting next to Fuku, leaning against her. "And yeah! Go ahead, look into it. I'd love to learn more about your people. Like... my mom never really knew much about her people. She was kind of the last of her species, as far as she knew. Immortal angel queen and all that. Then she had me, but well... I've never actually met others, so it's kind of neat to hear about your people."

She took another sip of her tea, before asking the question to end Fuku's whole career. "So, are you and Fuku dating?"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Fuku coughs a bit when Glimmer brings up the idea of turning the core into a superweapon. That would sound something like she could have done if she was really desperate for power, though that was also dependent on how desperate. If the Earth were damaged alongside this superweapon, then there would have hardly been any point at all to her scheming.

Michel shakes his head instead. "We would never turn Earth into a weapon. We have too much respect for it and its life. I, and I know many other Ancients share my same feelings, have been proud of how much it grew for the past thousands of years, despite all flaws that came along with the trial and error of this planet."

He takes another sip of his tea. "If there is something that disappoints me, it is the fact we never saw the opportunity to see it prosper without our presence. I would have enjoyed seeing it mature by itself. A shame we weren't able to achieve it." It would have been one of the best days in his life.

"Then I will do my research on your people, and also work on a summary of everything we did collectively", Michel adds to his task. "I do hope you will enjoy it, and that your mother does too, since she is free right now."

The final question spills into the room like an avalanche and a flood. Fuku watches Glimmer with wide eyes that would threaten her right there and then for the idea, while Michel smiles softly at Glimmer. "No, Fuku is a dear friend, but I don't feel anything for her romantically, and she holds me in too much respect for there to be anything else to her devotion."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon gave a small nod. "Oh, that's nice to hear. I know you're not related to the first ones, then. They had... very little respect for all of that," she said with a sigh. "They... really were not the nicest, when it came to that stuff. And ehhhhh... people are people," Glimmer said with a shrug.

"There's probably always that hope... you wanna see them grow up, but you're also worried they'll get hurt, and so you want to micromanage them. Mom used to do it to me alllll the time. And when I became queen, ohhh, well, let me tell you. *That* was a disaster. I was so *not* ready to be a queen, ohhh no. And nobody else was, either. It's... not easy. Leading never is," she said with a sigh. "In the end, people are people. You never know how it'll turn out. You can only ever see little snapshots, even if you think you see everything, you really just see one small village, or fragment of the whole. So even if you did see it the other way, you'd probably be in the same position, just regretting that you hadn't seen it prosper a different way, or fixed one tiny issue, or any number of a thousand other issues. Hindsight is always perfect, right?" she said with a chuckle before taking another drink of the tea.

"I would really appreciate that, knowing about your people, what they did, who they are, and who you all are, would mean a lot to me."

And seeing Fuku's face at the question? Oh, totally worth. She couldn't help grinning wider. And then she perked up. "Ohhhhh. So you two are like, best friends? Gotcha! I have someone like that back home! He uhhhh... He always... yeah... He sometimes said things like that. Too..."

... She *Really* hoped Fuku didn't have romantic feelings for Michel.

... Cause if she did...

... Ouch.

"Hey, Fuku! Think you could show me around more of the kingdom? I'd love to see all of your favorite spots, unless you'd like to spend more time soaking in Michel's radiance?" she asked in a playful tone.

Well... she wasn't entirely sure what was going on here... But she also still didn't think it would last forever.

And for now? She wasn't worried. And she wanted Fuku to be able to have some good times. Also, that look Fuku was giving her was *hilarious*.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Michel sips his tea as Glimmer speaks and watches her talk, more and more with growing interest, up to the point he decides to out his cup down and in favour of deciding to just look and listen. Many things had been already thought of by him, some instead came with a new perspective, but all of them aligned with his considerations. "You are really interesting, Miss Glimmer. You've made some really insightful points, and I can only assume you have lived through similar worries to be able to speak of them so well. Your mother, right?"

"There was a lot of times when I thought about letting go, about having people mature on their own, ever since I started nurturing my beloved Panthalassa and mermaids to take care of this planet like it was an irreplaceable jewel. Once already it had seen complete annihilation, before our coming. What's stopping it from happening again? So I start guiding with the hope of avoiding that disaster."

"Then interference from another timeline happened, and showed me the Panthalassa has been sent to ruin by their own ambitions, mermaids were still around with one Kingdom destroyed. Many times I have considered letting go, Glimmer, but every time the knowledge of that timeline has stopped my hand."

Another Ancient comes, bringing with themselves the cake Glimmer requested. "Thank you", he bows his head at the Ancient who is already retreating. "Earlier today the timeline interference was detected again, but it rang empty, so I think your appearance here is very interesting", he adds, side eyeing Fuku with worry. But a gesture is given to the cake. "Here, I will leave you to it for now. Enjoy all the portions you want", Michel smiles.

"I have enough time to show you around", the woman smiles to Glimmer. "Michel has a lot to do without me meddling. I can always come back to him later. Finish your cake and we can go." Outside, completely calm. Inside, very annoyed at being called out on her admiration for Michel. It's clearly perfectly reasonable. And neither of them know how much she has missed him.

The situation is already far more developed than she can control. But she will still do her best to defend it until the very end, no matter what's required of her. This is her beautiful dream.