Plots: Serious, silly, random, oh my!

[quillpleasant]

Aiko's Bad Day

Library

Darko's eyes widen as Koko talks. He had been so distracted by the crowd before that he hadn't been able to pay much attention to what she was going through, but clearly the idea of fusing is incredibly distressing to her. It makes his heart twinge in sympathy, especially as he's partially responsible having been sent on this mission.

But actually, screw the mission.

"Hey, I didn't know how you felt about it. If you don't want to go back, then you don't have to, okay?" he says reassuringly. "No one's going to force you to do something you don't want to." Regardless of being three pieces of a whole, all the Aikos seem to be people in their own right, and bodily autonomy surely applies.

But Eddie does make a good point. If there is some sudden horrible effect, it's not like any of them could do anything to stop it. That would need some very powerful magic-

Hm. Should he? Maybe? If there's anything worth using his magic for, it's this.

"Ehh... Asami might not be able to protect her from her own body not working right, but I can," says Darko, with more confidence than he feels. "And even if she wants to stay here with Asami, the others can always come tell us what they find." Plus, he's still a little peeved about Sigil Aiko's attempts to command him, so disobeying her sounds kind of good right now.

---

Draco Street Bakery

Simon knew about Rowan's only child status, and he's more than a little envious of that. But there's no use in wishing for things you don't have.

"Yeah, her twin- Cea, she was a real twist. Like, an actual sociopath who hurt people for fun. After Atya left, she started targeting me more, since I was the youngest. My old body sure had some scars from that." He chuckles grimly. One more benefit to the current double dragon situation.

"I ended up ratting her out to the authorities, and she was put away for life. It was anonymous, so she never knew it was me. But there's always a chance of Luci or the others springing her, and half elves live a lot longer than humans." Of course, he has no idea how being a dragon will impact his lifespan. "But yeah, my initial fear was that Atya showing up meant that Cea wasn't far behind. She's... pretty terrifying." Which is clear from the hesitation in Simon's voice as he talks about her.

[[brackets lover]]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

Asami sighs exasperatedly, giving a tired look at Eddie. "Eddie-san, its clear you only see this as a problem to be solved. You're not gonna be much help here if you can't separate your feelings from the situation."

Asami tilts his head forward and closes his eyes musingly, curling his hands into fists. "And besides, a whole Aiko-senpai is less than the sum of her parts. 'Babaz'-senpai, the smart one, was able to intercept my strike just by predicting it. Such an ability... is more than impossible. Its soverignty. She'll be able to find a way I can get back to the world where I lived my previous life... I can finally put an end to the empire's oppression."

[Ironsmith]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

"You... you mean that?" Koko slowly rises back up, giving Darko a small, anxious smile that steadily grows out into a happy grin.

And then Darko will find himself with a face full of pigtail and a succubus wrapped around his neck.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Babbles Koko, in between what are either attempts to throttle him or her skipping rope with her own tail. She knew Darko was a sweetie, not so deep down!

And then Asami starts talking about his grand master plan.

Koko extracts her face from Darko's shoulder and looks over at him, her expression becoming one of concern. "You were being oppressed? Oh no..." She moans sympathetically. "I wish we could do something about that. It sounds horrid."

[Keeper]

Draco Street Bakery

Rowan glances around, clearly uncomfortable about what he has to say but resolute.
"Do you want me to start carrying around one of the uh. Nastier muffins?" he asks of Simon, who has doubtlessly heard about Rowan's success in curses.
"...and do you think Atya might know why a lab would want you?"

[TeChameleon]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

Eddie sat down hard on one of the chairs, a warning *CRACK* coming from it, but thankfully it didn't give way. He buried his face in his hands, almost completely overwhelmed. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised; even his closest friends among the organics often had motives that were obscure to him. Although by the same token, they were rarely quite as erratic as these organics were.

He looked at Darko. Some of the things the boy had said about his magic made the little golem very, very wary about it being used for life-saving healing. "Are you sure, Darko?" he asked. "Grogamagog always told me there were, at the most basic level, only three kinds of magic. Magic that does exactly and only what it's told, magic that does what you actually want, and magic that does what you want for just long enough to make it going haywire a thousand times worse. Are you sure enough that your magic isn't the third kind to risk Aiko's life on it?"

He waved a vague hand at Koko. "Can... can you actually hear me? Perceive me at all? I don't think you've responded to anything I've said yet..."

And then Asami got a flat look. "I have no idea what you guys are talking about anymore, Asameekune. As far as I can tell... and I honestly hope I'm wrong, because you didn't seem like you were particularly mercenary or horrible before... as far as I can tell, you want Aiko to stay split because you want something from one of her parts, and you're holding this part of her hostage so that you can get what you want. Although I'm not sure how predicting your strike means that she'll be able to send you between worlds. And... why do you think an empress will help you overthrow an empire?"

[[brackets lover]]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

library

Asami gives a long, exasperated sigh as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "Dude, there are literally several other students in this school that are literally on their death bed right now. You could go help one of those instead of bothering us."

Asami turns to Koko, holding his hands behind his back. "Ahem. It was in my previous life, so I really don't remember it at all. As for doing something about it, I'm working on that. Working on a lot of things at once, really. And I can't afford to be eager, I have to play smart."

He crosses his arms and brings an index finger to his chin. "Though, if you really mean it when you say we, what you could do now is get used to your new form. The more you discover about yourself, the closer you get to 'doing something'"

[bc56]

Aiko's Bad Day
"Living like that's gotta suck," Mary comments, "People need to take time off or they go crazy! Even my mum, who's always busy taking care of my brother and the kingdom, finds time for tea breaks." Sekhmet has a lot on her plate all the time.

[Ironsmith]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

"Nobody ever accused me of leading a charmed life." Sigil Aiko comments, continuing to stare blankly at the sudoku in her hands. "But it is my life, and that is how I live it."

"...Perhaps she has a point." Old Aiko interjects. "Clearly, that lifestyle has not been good for our mind. One does not normally respond to succubus essence by developing multiple personalities."

"True. But that isn't a particularly helpful insight. Knowing our lifestyle is harmful to us does not change its necessity or overall rectitude." Sigil Aiko squints at the page. "...One could simply add it to the list of sacrifices demanded by our position."

[quillpleasant]

Aiko's Bad Day

Library

Darko starts to confirm that yes, he does mean what he's saying, but he's barely started talking when Koko swoops him into a hug. That was not the reaction he was expecting- not that he's complaining. His cheeks turning pink, he attempts to look nonchalant and gallant, which is not easy when you're a nervous teenage boy.

"Y- yeah no problem," he manages. There's no way he's going back on this now. "You deserve to choose your own path, regardless of what the others think."

The crack from Eddie's chair draws his attention, and he listens attentively to what the golem is saying. It makes sense, but... "I mean you're right, my magic is... not cooperative. But based on my Narrative class and on my own observations, it's a lot more likely to screw me over at this point." Sure, it's hurt other people in the past- but the Narrative loves tragic backstories. "And if I use it willingly, it'll probably be too happy to mess me up the first couple times."

Asami gets a confused look. "Wh... how come you never told me about this? I can help! Heck, maybe the Wizards can even help. You should probably learn more about it before making a plan, right?"

---

Draco Street Bakery

"I mean... until we confirm that it's just Atya, and she really isn't out to get me, a nasty muffin wouldn't be a bad idea. Just in case," says Simon slowly. He glances up at Rowan. "It's nice to be dating a badass, this would be a lot more worrisome if I was alone."

Steepling his little claws, he hmms in thought. "As for the lab- maybe? I mean, the fact that any of my siblings made it to this same world strains credibility unless whatever brought us here is related in some way. So it's worth asking about, at least."

[Keeper]

Draco Street Bakery

"Badass? Simon, I make pies for a living. And I'm like, specifically designed to look like a doofy cartoon side character. Who loves pie." Just because Rowan has achieved the power of self-respect doesn't mean that's the word he'd use to describe himself.

"Yeah. Well, it's worth trying before we have to resort to plan: hire an adventurer before feeding you a tracking device." He stops to consider the two of them.
"Uh, what do we wear if she's gotten all fancy? Like...when I'm not wearing this I tend to just wear...you know. And you're....you know..."
'Almost or actually nothing' and 'naked,' respectfully.

[Ironsmith]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

"Of course I can hear you." Koko responds to Eddie almost immediately, still wrapped around Darko's neck. "But you've been mean this whole time and I'm trying not to be mean back. Like mum always said; 'If you can't be polite, be silent'." She leans back, dramatically flapping her head against Darko's shoulder. "She really did say that, a lot. Mum was super nice."

The succubus's smile fades a little and she buries her head in Darko's shoulder a little more, hiding her eyes. "...Oh. I made myself sad." She mutters, muffled.

Fortunately, Asami's there to pull her back on track.

"Oh, okay!' Koko exclaims, shooting back up out of Darko's shoulder and looking over at Asami. "I don't think there's anything new with this body, though. Other than having wings and a tail now. Ooh! Maybe I can fly!"

She's never flown before. Wouldn't it be awesome if she could?

[bc56]

Aiko's Bad Day
"Going crazy won't help you do anything," Mary points out, "You might be fine now, but if you don't take time off, you'll break down. Actually, I think you already did. Normal people don't split in three."

Screeeeeeeeeech! There's a rush of air and a loud sound of brakes.
"Oh, here's our train," Mary adds, climbing aboard.

[Ironsmith]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Sigil Aiko says nothing, but gets up from the bench and steps onto the train, with her older counterpart not far behind. It's a little quiet today, but sigil Aiko still feels the need to give a polite bow to the disembarking passengers as they cross paths.

It's not until several minutes later that she elects to continue the conversation.

"...I'm not crazy." She says firmly, apparently to her sudoku book, though the iciness of the comment is clearly pointed toward something else entirely.

[TeChameleon]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

Eddie just gaped at Asami and Koko for a moment, slumped in the chair, the injustice of it all temporarily robbing him of the ability to speak.

"You don't remember. I've been mean?!? Students on their deathbeds? This is a school, why aren't they in the hospital?" Eddie's voice was still very quiet, but it was rising in pitch.

"All I've tried to do is help. Just because you don't like that you have a problem doesn't mean that the problem will somehow stop bothering you. You are in danger, and you are putting your other selves in danger. And that's not just going to change by itself. It might be possible for you to be stabilized like this, I don't know, magic... bleah... but you need to do something about it that's not hiding in the library." he told Koko bluntly.

"And you, Asameekune... didn't Darko say you were a star? How does someone oppress a star? And do you remember enough about the empire to be sure that it's evil? And don't give me the old 'all empires are evil' bit, because if that was true, you probably shouldn't be helping Empress Aiko." Eddie shook his head. "I haven't overthrown a lot of empires... just the one... and that was the demonic Empire of Bitter Tears, which was kind of a unique case, but I hope you have a plan for after the emperor goes down. I'm even willing to help with the overthrowing, at least if you have more to go on than vague memories of a possibly-evil empire somewhere out in the multiverse."

"And Darko..." Eddie started, his voice surprisingly gentle. "Are... are you sure that the best time to test that is when three lives are on the line? The way you talk about it, your magic sounds frightening and kind of awful."

[[brackets lover]]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

Asami scratches the back of his neck. "Well... This was my first year of school, so that kinda put the whole empire stuff in the back of my mind. I only brought it up just now to win the argument. But you're right, you can help me-" says Asami as he blinks out and back in, setting a 5 kg weight on the table, "If, and only if, you can lift this more than once."

Asami chuckles, covering his mouth with one hands.

Once the laughter subsides, he turns to Eddie. "Ok, Eddie-san, you've said your piece. Its dangerous, sure. But, too many marshmellows make the cereal soggy. So, I'm bowing out."

Asami walks back to the computer, shooting an apologetic look at Koko. "_{Sorry, I tried my best.}"

[bc56]

Aiko's Bad Day
"Sorry, but no, you are," Mary replies, "Even before all this splitting stuff. Who in their right mind wants to be a bully? That's like mustache-twirling villain stuff. Getting up and saying 'I can't wait to make life worse for other people today!' is like something out of a cartoon."

[Ironsmith]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

"That one was not my decision." Sigil Aiko replies, with an accompanying temperature drop. "Had I been the sole executor of our extracurriculars, I would have left well enough alone at three different clubs and not split my attention further with a fourth. It serves no purpose with regard to my plan to return home, or to make myself a better, more capable empress." She frowns. "I am not entirely certain what possessed me to choose Bully Club in particular. All I can tell you for certain is that I have been trying to salvage the situation ever since then, by gaining a leadership position and attempting to refine my statecraft and interpersonal skills."

[bc56]

Aiko's Bad Day
Mary narrows her eyes at sigil-Aiko. "You must've had a reason," she replies skeptically.
"Anyway being a better empress doesn't help you now. This isn't your empire and nobody has to listen to you."

[Ironsmith]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

"Of course it doesn't help me. It has never been about helping me." Sigil Aiko frowns, staring at the page. "Are you under the impression that I get some manner of pleasure from being empress? That having people to whom I may give orders and reasonably expect those orders to be obeyed is... somehow a comfort to me?"

"In point of fact-" Old Aiko begins.

"Far from it. What I do, I do because it is my duty." Sigil Aiko continues, her voice somehow failing to rise. "The Empire has an Empress. That would be me. I did not ask for the title. I did not want the title. I still do not want the title. But it has been placed squarely on my brow, and I will not shirk the responsibility, even while temporarily embarrassed."

Sigil Aiko lowers her head. She looks as though she wants to say something else, but it just keeps coming out as shuddering half-syllables. Her expression remains stoic, but the words simply do not come.

[bc56]

Aiko's Bad Day
"You definitely do," Mary counters, "You freak out whenever anyone doesn't do what you say." She shakes her head disapprovingly. "Besides, if this is a duty thing, then why not take it easy? Your duty isn't to the Nexus. The Nexus doesn't need or want emperors. If you really don't want the throne, why not take it easy and enjoy the freedom from responsibility a little? It's not like your people will all die without you. It has been 2 years, they've probably moved on and found a new emperor or even elected a republic or something."

[Ironsmith]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Sigil Aiko finally looks up from the page and at Mary, the expression on her face one of sheer disbelief. "I am not 'free from responsibility', therefore I cannot enjoy said freedom. It is a moral imperative that I return as soon as possible, as ready as possible. I could no more put that aside than you could curse out your own mother. Doing so would be wrong."

"...As an aside." Old Aiko begins. "In the event of the sudden disappearance of authority, a peaceful transition of power is among the least likely outcomes. Absent any other information, Her Highness would be right to worry that the Empire may have since plunged into civil war as rival nobles attempt to claim her empty throne, or that foreign powers may take advantage of a sudden weakness in the Empire to launch gambits of their own. The only mitigating factor of which she may be aware is that her deposition was a result of foul play, and there may therefore be a dominant power even in her absence... though said power does not come with a guarantee for the safety of her people, and the dishonorable conduct of a usurper would not suggest as much, either."

Sigil Aiko gives a little "well there you go" gesture in her older counterpart's direction.

"I would further point out that, if the goal of Her Highness's surrogate leadership roles here in the Nexus is to help train her to be a better leader upon her return, a negative response to her orders being defied is to be expected. All leaders carry authority of some form, and doing so is integral to their position as leader. The failure of her authority may be rightly regarded as her failure as a leader; a failure to persuade, or to coerce, or to inspire, as her position may require. While there are doubtlessly better responses to these failures than 'freaking out', she is well within her rights to respond, in some form."

"You see? She gets it." Sigil Aiko gestures again, with a little smile.

[bc56]

Aiko's Bad Day
Mary listens to old Aiko's monologue, her frown deepening at the second part,
"Except that's all bullcrap!" she blurts out, "You have no authority here. Nobody cares if you're an empress on a far-off plane or if I'm a princess in Hell, neither of us have the right to order anyone around. And no matter how many times you threaten to turn me into a duck and eat me, your magic didn't make the jump. Not to mention that you're stuck here just like everyone else who ever got sucked in; you're not getting back to your kingdom anytime soon, if ever."

Mary glowers at both Aikos. "You keep demanding respect and nobody's giving it to you. But that's because you don't respect anyone in return. It's all about you all the time. But you don't have powers to scare everyone into obedience here. Honestly, I bet your people are happy to have a terror like you off the throne. I can't imagine any ruler who turns people into animals and eats them to be very popular."

[Ironsmith]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

"...And you would be right."

Both the Aikos stare back at Mary, with an identical set of stony facades.

"No. We were not popular." Old Aiko begins. "And you would be correct to attribute our unpopularity to that incident. It had the desired effect of terrifying any who would continue to assail our people. Personally bringing down the Empress's wrath, and having it be such a horrible fate, whether it is moral or not, tends to have that effect." She crosses her arms. "It also had the very much undesired effect of terrifying our own people. We had proven ourselves ruthless. We had not proven ourselves trustworthy. That we were capable of such a thing, and there was apparently nothing stopping us from doing it to them but our own sense of morality, for which nobody could vouch, was understandably unsettling."

"We would never have permitted the use of such a spell on our own people." Sigil Aiko interjects. "...But it didn't matter. By then, we'd established ourselves as someone to be feared, and it proved... difficult to undo that impression. Not that we didn't try, but..."

"Our methods turned out to be... counterproductive."

"Quite." Sigil Aiko steeples her fingers and lets out a little sigh. "...If you have to browbeat people into believing you have authority, you only have authority for as long as you have a means of browbeating them. And more broadly, if you have to tell people you're in charge, you aren't."

"In summary; you have the causality backward, Your Grace."

"I'm not trying to use the fact that I'm Empress to get people to listen to me. I'm trying to get people to listen to me, because as Empress that isn't a skill I can afford not to have."

[quillpleasant]

Aiko's Bad Day

Library

Darko pats Koko's head sympathetically. "Oh... my mom is also gone. I'm sorry about that." He's not used to comforting anyone, but Koko really seems to need it.

But that's difficult with Eddie being an out of touch adult and Asami being, well... Asami.

"Lives being on the line is the best time to test it," he says to the golem, quite seriously, "My magic is a lot more likely to turn nasty if things are low stakes. If I was just say, trying to impress someone it would probably screw me over, but if I tried to save someone I think it would work." It's opportunistic that way. "And Eddie... I know you mean well, but you can't help people who don't want you to help them. It doesn't work."

Well intentioned people have tried to help Darko plenty of times, and usually made things worse. You have to be ready to accept help, and Koko is clearly not.

As Asami puts the weight on the table, Darko rolls his eyes. "Sure, real funny. Watch this." Leaning forward, he grabs the weight and throws it into the air.

It might take a moment to realize that not only is it not coming down, it's disappeared entirely.

Turning back to Koko, Darko leans in slightly. "Hey, I know this is all really stressful. Want to get out of here and go test your wings out? I can teleport us away."

And by 'teleport' he means he can throw a smokebomb and they can escape before it clears. He's gotten way too good at that.

---

Draco Street Bakery

Simon blinks at Rowan's protests. "Dude, being a badass isn't about your aesthetics or hobbies. Being willing to throw down to protect your partner is badass, doesn't matter who you are."

"And yeah, maybe she can even be the adventurer we hire. She was always into that kind of thing." Simon never really understood the appeal of adventuring- why go out and risk your life when you could get the same thrill playing MMOs from the comfort of your bed?

At the question of clothes, he gives a little snort of laughter. "I've seen Atya wearing triple hand me downs that were too big for her. All the fancy clothes in the world won't stop her from being my cringe big sister." Is that the tiniest note of fondness in his voice? No, he's probably just allergic to something. "Besides, like I've said before, we're dragons. We don't need clothes. It's one of the perks."

[TeChameleon]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

"Whoever saddled you with that magic needs a smack upside the head." Eddie muttered, shaking his head at Darko.

He looked helplessly at Koko. The little golem had never really had anything even remotely approaching a maternal figure, much less an actual mother, so he had no idea what to say to Koko. 'I'm sorry' didn't really seem to cut it in situations like this, and a vow to punish those that took her was kind of meaningless when he didn't even know what universe it happened in. And also might not cut it.

His hood bobbled around in a way that suggested he was shaking his head vigorously.

"I get that. I really do. About the not being able to help someone that doesn't want it, I mean. The problem is, it's not just her. There are two other Aikos that need help, and if my horrible fears are right, all three need to be together. Even if my fears are wrong... and you have no idea how badly I want them to be... then all three should be checked out by someone qualified to make sure there aren't weird nasty side effects to all this. And that kind of takes priority over 'Dun wanna!' I just wish I had a better idea of how to do all this. This Aiko isn't the easiest for me to deal with."

He spoke a little more loudly, including Koko in the conversation. He hadn't really been trying to exclude her, but she would have had to listen at least a little carefully to make out what he'd been saying to Darko. "You probably can fly- at least, most winged folks I've met can- but you're dangerously mana-depleted, and it might not be safe for you to try anything that draws on your magic without a top-up. If there isn't anywhere in the school that you can get one, I've got a mana potion I made to test the mana condenser I built over at MERC; it's no use to me, so you're quite welcome to have it if you want it, I would just need to go into MERC headquarters to get it."

A brief pause. "I'd also like to get my armour from MERC... I haven't really given up on paying a visit to Circe. She's pushing bad product, and she's dealing to kids. That's two strikes right there." Eddie didn't go into detail as to what a third strike would entail, but it was pretty easy to infer that Circe wouldn't like it very much.

"Would you be okay with taking us through the theatre to get to MERC, Darko? Er, would that even be possible?" Eddie asked.

[Ironsmith]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

For the most part, Koko seems to have tuned out Eddie again; what he's putting forward, about taking her to be looked over by a doctor or something, doesn't really quite seem to click. Instead, she preoccupies herself with continuing to hug Darko, once again hiding her face somewhere in his shoulder.

The offer to go test out her wings, oddly enough, seems to get ignored, too. Or at least doesn't get a very enthusiastic response. And for that matter, neither does Asami and his antics. Which, collectively, might serve to give the impression that she's just...

Shut down.

At least until Darko hears her say something again.

"...I want to go." She says quietly.

[Keeper]

Draco Street Bakery

”Well, that could work as long as you’re comfortable telling her everything.” Neither of them is great at keeping secrets so they probably would have to anyway.
”okay. Well, sounds like we have a plan. We can stop over when you’re comfortable and see your sister as proper dragons then.” And he’ll try his best to be presentable. Hopefully Atya’s place has big doors.

[bc56]

Aiko's Bad Day
"Then stop browbeating people! Even without your powers, with all this bully club business it's still the same thing!" Mary points out. "Mum teaches me to lead through respect. If you respect people, they'll learn to respect you."

[Ironsmith]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

"You say that as though I intended to be an authority for the entire school." Sigil Aiko sets the book in her lap. "And while I applaud the ambition of any who would attempt that, our sights have been set lower. We are a club president. Our responsibilities are to the club. I could not care less whether, for example, you obey our orders. Our concerns are building rapport with the club members; Throng, T.O.M., Pippi and Poppi, Vivian, Asami, and Sasha. And that, it would seem, we have managed to accomplish."

[bc56]

Aiko's Bad Day
"Coulda fooled me. I remember how our 'group project' went," Mary has a point; Aiko was awfully controlling for someone who doesn't care about controlling everyone.
Mary turns to look out the window and yawns. She's already getting tired of arguing, and this is a three hour trip. The demon princess folds her wings around herself. For someone like her, it's always too cold.