Open Tides Under Siege

Well, that was that. It seems there isn't too much fanfare for Angel; my dear brother is far too unpopular for that. Her preparation was unnecessary, and in satisfaction of that she nodded to herself. I'm glad. Perhaps, despite our failures, this duo shall win the crown. There was no real need for the Net; everything was fine and well and maybe even great. Demon looked almost disappointed, which an appearance she felt should suit him all the time. He is a disappointment, I've done my job and made it so.

Sadly, despite the disapppointment he was, it seemed that Phish had decided that he was the one to be invited to the meeting and not her. It made sense, in an annoying way; no matter her usefulness it was obvious that there was to be one holder to the throne. In a way she was off on her own, no matter how connected to Rafael she may be. He was king and she was not!

Advice would be appropiate to give, though, and even though she recognized Rafael was a wiser, more important and more royal sibling than her she still wished to sit in on the meeting. Swimming over to the crawdaunt and the rest, she stated her case as professionally she could. "I understand if you only wish to communicate with my brother, but I would prefer if I would be allowed to discuss this issue with all of you. Still, if you believe that this is truly a kingly issue, then I would be glad handle to the clean-up. It is your choice!" If this is a kingly issue it's obvious that only Rafael should be the one speaking to you. I hope you see reason.

Rafael dug himself out of the sand he had buried himself in, and winced. The issue with using sand as a shield against electricity is the fact that it is, by virtue of being sand, more full of cracks than it is of rock. It dissipated most of the shock, but the remainder was still painful, what with him being a creature naturally susceptible to electricity.

He shook the sand that hadn't fell off of him already off of him, and looked towards the scene above. The Gyrados was unconscious, that was certain. Phish was swimming towards him, and Angel was following. Beauty seemed annoyed about something, although she generally was annoyed about something or another, so that didn't necessarily mean anything.

He swam forward to meet Phish, and upon reaching him, heard Angel say "What of my sister? Should she not be included in this?" He replied "I suppose that depends on what exactly 'This' is. That was a question, by the way."

~Phish

Phish sighed as he was asked why Beauty wasn't to be attending the meeting. Phish didn't want to say why, at least exactly why, and thus created a polite excuse.

"I'm sorry milady, but the topics the meeting will concern only concern your brothers. If you feel offended, I deeply apologise, but it must be this way." Phish replied politely, an apologetic smile spread on his face. He continued his way to the meeting hall, not wishing to address the matter until then.

So, he seems to wish that I not listen in. Why, I wonder? Quite the odd cycle of events, but I'm sure Rafael shall tell me what has occured within hours of it occuring. Why not, after all? We are on the same side no matter the subject, and therefore it would always be beneficial for him to confide in me. After all, I am the most loyal one could possibly be. Unless, of course, the topic is something about me, then there would be a chance...

Rafael would tell her. He would, yes. Shooting a look at him that simply communicated tell me everything, she swam off to assist with the reconstuction of the buildings. Perhaps we could paint a mural for Rafael...

Angel's emotions were mixed. On one hand, he had just looked courteous to his sister, and suffered none of the drawbacks that usually came with it. On the other, Phish had royally shut him down, literally, sort of. He had asked and had been denied. Maybe it really was incredibly important, something only for royalty, but still, the fact that he had had the nerve to outright refuse. He hadn't even referred to him at all. Was his hold on the general not as strong as he had previously thought? He hoped not...but still, it was wise to do everything in his power to reclaim it, by acting wise, sound and diplomatic at this meeting. Which, in itself, started to intrigue him. What could be so important? He shrugged. Time to investigate.

He shot a glance at his brother, Rafael, not forgetting his rather self-important outburst, which he had decided to ignore. Conceited, arrogant...Thoughts could not define. He then looked to his sister, who was altogether less...Rafael. She had yet to react to Phish's denial, and was simply deep in thought. A flicker of doubt ran through her face, before she shot a look at her brother, one Angel could not decipher, and then shot of wordlessly in the opposite direction. He frowned. Was she upset? She didn't look it...But then again, she was so good at hiding her emotions. She no doubt felt stung at being left out, and would probably give his brother a sharp questioning later. Angel shrugged the thoughts away, and powered to the meeting hall, his body cutting through the water like a twisting knife. He slipped past fish, through the palace, and into the meeting hall, where he hovered over his allocated space, deep in thought, and awaited for the others to join him.

Only concerning me and Angel... That could imply a variety of things. At the moment the most likely is something related to the succession... He saw beauty shoot him a look from the corner of his eye. He barely had to see it to know what it was meant to convey. Of course, if for any reason I'm unable to inform her about whatever this is, she'll assume it's being kept specifically from her. She's volatile enough that could be a problem. Angel began to swim faster, leaving Rafael and Phish behind. How... Childish. He'll probably comment about how long it took for me to reach the meeting room behind him, too. He kept swimming for a while, eventually reaching the meeting room. He settled into his allotted spot in the room, and waited for Phish to say what the meeting was to be about.

~Phish

Phish watched as the two princes entered the meeting hall, he knew that they weren't sure of what this was, and he was certain that Beauty was hoping that Rafael would convey anything and everything said here to her. Phish cleared his throat, allowing himself the oppurtunity of one last thought, and began.

"There are several reason I decided to hold this meeting, the first being my standpoint in the situation. As much as I have a noted leaning towards Angels side, I feel that it is best that I retain a neutral stance, I cannot allow my opinions to affect the possible safety of the kingdom, this attack has proved that to me." Phish glanced between the two brothers, each embodying the opposites of the other.

"The second matter is Beauty. This is the reason I couldn't have her come, as I knew well enough that she'd react poorly regarding hearing what I am about to say. Angel, for the sake of peace I must insist that you refrain from instigating issues with her, her temper is too much, and one of my soldiers informed me on the way here of a dumping of broken furniture. The dumping ground is believed to be where the Gyarados was dwelling, and the furniture has been identified as Beauty's, due to it's design and composition. Rafael, I apologise that I must request this, but I would greatly appreciate it if you would ensure that she is kept in check. I know that it is also your obligation to relay anything I say here to her, but I would appreciate it if it would remain between the three of us." Another pause, another glance, and a sharp breath, Phish awaits the responses of the Princes, his breath slightly drawn in anticipation.

Well then. Rafael has been notified, I will be told of the events promptly after the meeting ends, the city needs cleaning up and I shall be the one to plan and execute the recontruction. While doing so I must point out Angel is not bothering himself with public safety and the safety of his own village. Then I will valiantly oversee and assist everything; by the time this day ends I will rebuild the public's trust in Rafael and demolish their little pity for Demon. Instead there will be a monument to my diligence, a skyscraper made of his public faults which everyone must gaze upon even when thinking of him. It will be wondrous. All these thoughts raced through her mind at top speed, while her body was similarly speeding forward. This is what can happen. I know of what is needed; I must do so. Time to get to work.

She slowed her jetting pace through the water and came to a stop in from of a worried walrein; the official (he was the mayor, to the best of her forced political knowledge) was looking at the wreckage in pure shock. He had obviously just arrived. A crowd had gathered, but at the moment all the repairing that was being done was of their shattered feelings of safety and calm. "Sir!" The ice/water looked at her in surprise, realizing in a second who was speaking to him in such a grave time. "I am so sorry about the city, Rafael is as we speak working to determine the cause of attack and we have taken down the culprit... him and I are going to do our best to restore what has been torn down. What do you need help with? I'd love to assist you in any way possible." Smiling sincerely (or at least looking like it), she added to him the same things she would hope get imprinted on every citizen. "Just remember, Rafael and I are always attentive to your and your city's needs."

The walrus seemed a bit unnerved by this, but all the same he replied readily. "Of course, Beauty. Thank you. I suppose if you wouldn't mind helping with the rubble...?"

The gorebyss immediately started telekinetically hauling boulders to their designated place, imagining the beautiful mural of her and Rafael's rebuilt city all the while.

"Instigating...Issues?"

Angel, for a moment, tried to get what the old commander was getting at.

"I...oh. You...don't mean to say that the Gyrados that destroyed....that that was myfault? Beauty dumped furniture in a junk heap? What does that have to do with me, honestly? I mean...Why would you possibly connect that to me? I don't see it, myself. Did I...break into Beauty's house? Smash her furniture, her belongings, then leave her to clean up the mess? Or did I plant the table there to frame her for the attack of that cretin on my kingdom? I fail to see how I am at fault here, Commander. Enlighten me."

Angel gave the Commander a long stare. These accusations would not be upheld. But, of course, there was no need in scaring the fish-after all, his support was rather necessary in the grand scheme of things. So he altered his long stare into one of slight bepuzzlement, and hoped the penetrating properties it had upheld were now gone unnoticed. He gave a sideways glance to Rafael, wondering how he would react:he supposed that the Commander was also holding his brother responsible for the care of his sister. Though it made perfect sense, it didn't feel quite right to Angel, that one brother, the younger brother at that, should be made to hold such responsibility over a younger sibling...Surely Angel had best be given the task, had feelings between he and his sister not depreciated so.

He sighed. Enemy or not in this race, maybe it might be best....
To make amends?

No, she would never allow it.

"Well, whoever they are, I'll try and see to it that you aren't attacked again.", Claudio returned to the concerned, perhaps even paranoid, Starmie, "And in the mean time, we'd better figure out who they are. Perhaps the murderers? Your idea sounds as good as any in this case. Let us pay this doctor a visit."

With that, Claudio swam past Reiki. Heading through the hallways of the castle, Claudio passed by the meeting hall and could not help but hear something going on inside. Figuring that nobody here would mind too much if he entered a meeting, he slowly opened the doors.

"-fail to see how I am at fault here, Commander. Enlighten me.", Angel just got done saying.

"Alright, does this have to do with the distant rumbling?", Claudio told all of them, the participants here being Commander Phish and his two feuding cousins, "Or are we once again discussing the succession?"

"Alright, does this have to do with the distant rumbling? Or are we once again discussing the succession?"

The words crushed something inside Angel. A well of resistance. His temper flared brightly, how dare his cousin, how dare he. How dare he come here, interrupt a very private session, and talk to him with such impatience, such...argh! His thoughts were lost, as his mind stormed. The impertinence to come in like he owned the place, to humiliate him so...Angel felt he had best remind his cousin exactly who he was speaking to! But...Angel swallowed his anger. Civility. Fucking civility was necessary. He must look composed, calm, and reasonable. No...threatening, commanding? What would be the best image? The best light to show himself in?

He was thinking like beauty now.
Just say it:

"I would watch your tone, cousin. We are so dreadfully sorry that you feel a little exasperated over our discussion. How selfish of us! To put the future management of this kingdom before your nerves! To put the destruction of our very capital by the hands of a murderous beast before them! Oh, we are so dreadful, I apologise for all of us. Listen, heed no more of us. We will bicker away about our childish things, and you can go rest your head. This was a very private meeting you had stumbled upon anyhow. It's meant for those with a little more authority. So go. We do not wish to impose on you. Please close the door on your way out".

Was that civil? Threatening, composed, commanding, calm, authoritative, reasonable?

However it sounded, it was honest.

Claudio couldn't help but be taken aback by his cousin's response. Then again, it shouldn't have been surprising. If anything, his tone could have been infinitely more furious.

Before anyone else could respond, Claudio did, "Well I suppose that means something is wrong. You could have just told me that instead of simply telling me off. I'm sorry if I sounded condescending or in the least bit angry, but some... strange things have come up, besides whatever menace you're describing. However, this sounds, sorry Reiki, more important than what we're pursuing at the moment. Remember, I'm just here to help. If you're open to that, then please let me in on such important matters. If not, then I'll return home and let things pass."

And thank Kyogre those two are here..., Claudio thought, looking to Rafael and Commander Phish for some help.

~Phish

Phish sighed inwardly, slightly irritated with Angel's response to Claudio's inquiry. Claudio immediatly apologized, and looked to Phish, Phish quickly recognized the expression as one that needed back-up.

"My lord, this is what I meant by instigate, you are hot tempered and address matters in a brash manner. This is the kind of instigating that seems to throw Beauty into her rages, and my soldiers have reported in more than one occasion that her fits often follow a confrontation with you. Lord Claudio, what happened outside was an attack by an enraged lone Gyarados, who may have been provoked by the dumping of furniture in his lair, furniture identified as Beauty's."

The buildings were reconstructed in a day, they'll say. Everything is well once again! Rafael has saved the day, while Angel hid inside of a meeting room all day. The public had a riot, and after a massive outcry the Demon stepped down. He apologized publicly, but no one cared. The end! A fine story to tell the world, I'd say. If at all possible it shall become nonfiction. Flicking her tail like a whip as a sign of satisfaction, she carefully lifted a smaller rock and put it in its place as she maneuvered her way to a slow-moving relicanth. Unbeknownst to her, the small rock landed slightly off-target due to her not looking. It was near, however, and a volunteer blastoise picked it up to put in its correct place. Putting on a chipper smile, she reduced her speed (no need to startle the ancient one, they're probably not as quick-witted as they used to be) and eventually stopped. Speaking slightly slower than she usually would to make it easier to hear, Beauty phrased her request politely but firmly. Some older pokemon just didn't know when they had no authority.

"Hello, dear sir. I am terribly sorry to disturb your day, however as you can see there has been a significant amount of property destroyed and we need whomever we can recruit to help. As you can see that while there is a significant amount of people contributing we are still short on labor; would you mind assisting us?"

As the Gorebyss approached, Tur slowed himself as well. He wasn't young, but he recognized that she would want to start a conversation with him, or at least tell him something. At this point Tur had been swimming idly, enjoying the feeling of cool water on his scales and occasionally glancing down at the seafloor to look for objects. But now the Relicanth focused a bit more, and when the Gorebyss was finish speaking, he ran over her question in his head and then replied.

"I'd be glad to help," he said, his pectoral fins twitching a bit to keep him in place in the water column. "What is it that you need done?" As he said this, he glanced around. Various citizens were working tasks just as diverse, and he could pick one to do himself if he wanted to, but if the Gorebyss wanted him to do something specific, Tur would be completely fine with doing whatever that was.

((Sorry for the wait; I was planning to see if anyone else had anything to say.))

Well, it seems the old fish isn't insane after all. After such a fine showcase of my eldest sibling, it's much a suprise. Smiling amiably, Beauty slowly set down a rock she was "carrying" next to her. Able to focus more without the mental strain (although due to practice it was just more of a distraction), she looked him in the eye to attempt to seem friendly. That was what friends did, yes? "I am personally cleaning up the rubble and will be working on refurnishing the buildings when my first task is finished, but any sort of aid would be very much appreciated. You can choose your own mission; thank you for agreeing to this!"

After she recited her reply, she quickly examined the arena. It was coming around nicely, well enough that recovering it quickly wasn't that far off of an option, but getting back to her job would make it go faster. Still, the old one might want to have something to do with her... she didn't know his name. Odd, I suppose I probably should know more about the people in this city. I shall start now, then. The ancient ones are probably Angel's greatest potential allies--best snatch them away before he can recruit them. "I surmise I don't know your name?" The gorebyss asked, turning back to the scratched-up relicanth. He certainly could use some cleaning up, but not to an abnormal extent. "Mine is Beauty; it's been very pleasant meeting you! Would you wish to work on the reconstruction together?" If we do work together, I hope that you are not slow to the extent of making my pace waver as well. Although when considering that gathering rubble like this does not require much movement that seems unlikely.

However, this sounds, sorry Reiki, more important than what we're pursuing at the moment…

More important? More important than uncovering an assassination conspiracy? Reiki should have known that Claudio would not be the most available asset. She acknowledged this dismissal and swam out of the hall.

Reiki swam past ruined shops, offices, and dwellings. A team of volunteer workers, including Beauty, who was talking to a familiar-looking Relicanth, was busy cleaning up the rubble. In the wake of such destruction, no one would think to question Reiki’s ransacked household. If Claudio is too busy to help me, I must face this problem on my own… even if that means risking my own life. For the first time since the king’s death, she felt a sense of purpose. Reiki had lived a fairly private life, and had few friends in the kingdom that she could wholeheartedly trust. But now that she had this lead… this clue into the enigma surrounding his departure, she was not even afraid of an attack by the conspirators. Her new purpose in life was retribution. Although this meant she had to investigate alone, she no longer felt as lonely as she had during the past few months. This revelation was cut short when a young Horsea called to Reiki and asked her to attend to a Seadra who was injured when his roof crumbled on top of him.

I suppose my vigilante detective work will have to wait. Right now, these citizens direly need my help…

Tur waited about a second to make sure the Gorebyss - Beauty was her name, apparently, quite a nice name - was finished talking, and then responded politely. After all, Beauty was being nice to him, and he wouldn't have a reason not to be outwardly warm anyway, even if she would have decided to be curt instead. "My name is Tur," he told the Gorebyss. "I'm pleased to meet you." He added a bit of a pause there to make sure his own mind could keep up and in order not to sound rushed, and then the Relicanth continued. "I will assist you in the reconstruction."

It was good that the citizens these days were so polite. Tur was grateful that Beauty acted nicely, since, as demonstrated by the Gyarados Tur had seen from afar, the undersea world today had its fair share of bullies. Stepping along the ocean floor by his pectoral fins, Tur went up to a nearby rock portion of the ravaged building and nudged it along with his stout nose, aiming to either set it back in place or move it out of the way so that it wouldn't ruin the rebuilt look of the building once the reconstruction was finished.

Angel was astounded. "You're not saying that I, that...But I don't....I mean, Beauty and I....it isn't as if.....I just don't...to think I have the.....but I...you have to see, I mean...what I say doesn't.....she doesn't care...my emotional influence must be....must be....but...that isn't...I mean it couldn't be.....she wouldn't.....she doesn't.....I....."

Was it him?
Angel had always thought it was Beauty who was the beast, the antagonist, the one who felt so soundly better than Angel that she would take every opportunity to insult and belittle him, thinking to highly of herself and to lowly of him to give anything he said in retaliation much weight. He knew he could fluster her, yes, even upset her a little, but Beauty was so peaceful and non-violent. From what Phish had said, however, it seemed that he had much more of a hold on his sister than he thought. Though this was undoubtedly a good thing-the more hold he had on his sister, the easiery it would be to politically out-manouevre her-but all he could think about was how much he had had to upset her to make her destroy possessions like that, repeatedly, and of course, the fact that he had lead indirectly to the destruction of the city. He retreated into his own head, deep in thought.

This was... sort of nice, she supposed. While her senses told her to stay completely on guard (Any sort of outing is an appearance and opportunity to influence the public, she always thought), she could almost feel herself relaxing. No, she could feel it, which in itself was an unnerving experience. She... shouldn't be doing this! If she didn't give this game of thrones the proper respect she would lose and die.

She must keep aware, and make sure every word spoken was the correct one. She supposed she could permit herself to stay with the relicanth and enjoy the peace, though; she let him set the pace and merely followed along. It wasn't like her telekinesis required moving. So, letting most of her mind move rocks both large and small to the rubble pile, she replied with the same casual tone she had before. "It's nice to meet you as well, Tur. It's nice to see everyone working together to help our city!"

((EDIT: Yay, my first unintentional A Song of Ice and Fire reference since starting to read the series! Too bad I'm only on A Game Of Thrones.))