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gaia_crown Event One: Accolades
gaia_crown Event Two: Jousting
gaia_crown Event Three: Hunting
gaia_crown Event Four: The Arts

Blarney couldn't wait to visit Joy's Wonder. He'd wanted to for ages - he knew Wonders were reflective of their Knights, and the rubix cube that was Miss Joyeuse Garde begged further examination wherever he could find it. Sure, it was a mass invite, but it was also the first and only invitation to anything he had ever gotten, so he would treasure it for always and for ever. Maybe someday he would make a scrapbook out of all the little bits and pieces he'd gotten since awakening - the invite was gorgeous enough to earn its own page.

The Joyeuse Garde did not disappoint. It actually took his breath away. It was somehow exactly what he'd imagined it to be, and so much more than that. It was like stepping into a fairytale, or into the past, or both. It was beautiful, and Blarney never wanted to leave. He probably could have just stood there staring like an idiot for hours, but un/fortunately, Blarney had not come alone.

No, he had come with his sister, who seemed equally impressed by the Garde, but not quite as permanently as her brother. Madeline--Edam, gosh it was so hard to remember, had Madeline had this hard a time when he'd first uncovered his own secret identity?--shook herself free and nudged him, then nudged him again when the first wasn't strong enough to jar him out of his stupor.

"What? No, I'm listening," Blarney said, automatically, even though he realized, belatedly, that Edam hadn't actually said anything. "I mean, no, I'm--I'm good. We should--let's go see where we...register? Do we have to register or sign a paper or something? Did the invite say?"





It was the first and only invitation either of the twins had ever received, and however precious it was to Mason, it was perhaps even more precious to Madeline, which is why Madeline had refused to let Mason get his grubby little hands all over it and ruin it. She pulled the invitation from her pocket, shrugged and shook her head.

"Not directly," she said, tucking the paper back into her pocket. People were starting to appear and trickle in, so she followed the crowd. Edam had only met Joy once, but she made an impression to be sure - and beyond the impression, Joy had given Madeline ammunition in her arguments against Mason, which was more valuable than the positive impression ever could be.

All this to say: so far, going to the Joyeuse Garde had been the only part of magical life that Edam had agreed to, wholeheartedly and immediately.

And she had not been disappointed, if the events would be half as wonderful as the decorations and the style promised. She followed the crowd, with her arm looped through her brother's to keep him close and from staring like an idiot for hours on end. They had things to do, they could gape later!

(She hoped there would be time for gaping, and for exploring: Madeline had brought every optional thing mentioned on the invitation. In duplicate. For herself and for Mason, as they were, just barely, freshly 18, which meant they were allowed to eat, swim and sleep overnight. It felt very grownup, even if it was much more typical of a child than an adult to be this excited about a sleepover. Mason had only just barely convinced her not to bring a spare of each thing mentioned for both of them, arguing that subspace was infinite but not that infinite, and he didn't want to look lame in front of the other Knights and Senshi that were gathered there. And also, if she brought all of that, how would she have room for snacks? And speaking of snacks, could she make some snacks to bring? Good ones, not the boring healthy ones they had at home?)

As such, the first thing Edam located was the food preparation area; she deposited her plates of cookies (each labeled clearly with the flavor, as well as allergy/dietary concerns) on the nearest open spot, then looked around.

There was the area to pick one's favor, if one so intended on having a favor. Madeline - was conflicted. On the one hand, it did appeal to a long-buried part of her, to have someone (someone handsome...or maybe beautiful, or maybe both?, some traitorous part of her mind whispered) fight for her honor. It appealed to the same part of her that mourned the loss of faith in fairies and unicorns, which she had tried so hard to bury as deeply as she could.

On the other hand, Madeline was nothing if not a feminist. She thought that she was perfectly capable of fighting for her own honor, like in that Disney movie that made her bawl her eyes out. Or, perhaps, that same traitorous part of her mind whispered, it might be exciting to fight for someone else's honor. She couldn't decide, and she didn't dare even mention to Mason what she was considering. Every time he'd mentioned it, she'd just given him a knowing look and let him interpret it without knowing the meaning herself. That was how she always seemed like she knew more than she did, at least as far as her brother was concerned.

"Are you going to be a Fair One?" Madeline teased, after they were somewhat more settled in, with backpacks dispersed with the rest of the luggage. "Or are you going to give your favor to someone special?" Madeline batted her eyes and grinned impishly - as his twin, some part of her expected that he would give her his favor, of course, but - well, this wasn't just any silly little event. This was in front of all of Mason's fancy new magic friends, and she knew that giving one's favor usually (historically, anyway) had romantic undertones. They had just gotten past everyone in their high school thinking there was something inappropriate going on between them, and Madeline was not eager to revive those rumors in the next stage of her life.

...But it would be nice to have someone fight for her.

Even if it was her dumb brother.



Mason sighed, chewing the edge of his lip as he pondered her question. The safest route, truly, was to give his favor to his sister. He was devoted to her above all else - it was fear for her safety that had pushed him to level up to Squire, just when he'd been thinking that he'd be stuck as a baby Page until the end of time. She was his twin; the other half of him, the only person who would ever fully understand him, as long as either of them were alive. Of course he wanted to give her his favor, and fight for her honor, and earn her accolades and praise and whatever else you got for your favor-giver winning at events.

However.

However, Madeline was not the only girl in his life. Halia was his best friend, next to his sister, and didn't she also deserve someone to fight for her honor? But he didn't want to give the wrong impression and wind up in some kind of romantic trouble again, not so soon after the whole - Khaz debacle. Dr. Z had said that it was better to wait and see if anything like that came about on its own, and it didn't feel like giving a girl his favor counted as 'waiting and seeing', even if the girl in question was just a friend.

You can fight for yourself, a little voice in the back of his mind whispered. He was used to the little voice in the back of his head taking on Madeline's tone, but this was different. It wasn't quite his own voice, but it was similar--

Oh. It was Blarney's voice. The previous Blarney. She wasn't literally speaking to him, even as a ghost that was probably impossible, but - he could just imagine the look on her face if he tried to explain his indecision to her. He stood up a little straighter in spite of himself, as if Sabia could somehow see him and was telling him not to slouch when he was wearing the sigil of Blarney Castle.

"We should find Miss Joy," Blarney said, instead of answering the question directly. "Say hi, congratulate her...bow, or whatever it is we're supposed to do for someone throwing a tournament."



Sailor Kua'kua of Hellebore was not convinced that her invitation had been meant for her, but since she didn't know who else it could've possibly been meant for, she had decided the only polite thing to do was attend.

Even if she had absolutely no idea what a 'favor' was (other than the literal definition of doing something for someone). And absolutely no idea what chivalry was, or why it was.

What she did know was that it was nice to be included. She liked to be around powered people, she was realizing; maybe it was some latent 'safety in numbers' mentality or something, but she felt safe, being around so many people with such an array of abilities and gifts. She still wasn't sure if she deserved to be included in their ranks, what with her planet a graveyard and she with no way to revive it, but...if she wasn't, then it was extra nice to be included.

She still knew next to no one, but she couldn't help but look for one person she did know - kind of. She was looking for Sailor Grieve, who had impressed Kua'kua deeply during the battle on Tempesti. She admired Grieve - admired the chaos they exuded, the feral-ness...ferality? feralitude? Kua'kua didn't know the word in English. The fierceness, maybe. She admired how alive Grieve was.

And how talented she was at making other things markedly less alive. It had given her a sort of perverse thrill, watching Grieve claw the robot apart, like Grieve didn't know any other way to interact with the world than at maximum intensity, maximum effort, all the time. Kua'kua had felt so alone for so long - Grieve was like an extremely aggressive burst of fresh air, and Kua'kua couldn't help the curiosity that drove her to find more of it, wherever she could.

So. Kua'kua hoped that Grieve was coming to the party.

She also hoped that someone would explain what exactly any of these party events entailed. She would have to find Knight Joyeuse Garde and ask the proper protocol, ask what was most respectful and most appropriate.

Or maybe she would just use this opportunity to hone her observational skills, and try to learn without asking directly. Perhaps she could pretend like she had known all along what a chivalry was and how to do one. At any rate, she had designed herself a pretty flag, something fitting of her home planet - how she remembered it, anyway. Blue and golden and beautiful. Healthy and safe. Home.

Maybe she would just keep her pretty flag, all to herself. The least that she could do for her poor dead planet, perhaps, would be to honor it directly. Perhaps she could find some little cousins here, in this place, and fight for them.

...Or maybe that was self-centered. She wasn't sure. She would have to wait and see what the rest of the gathering crowd would do. It had worked on Tempesti, after all - surely Grieve, or someone, would give her a straightforward, clear and concise direction to follow.

She emerged, at last, from a door set into the wall of the bailey, her cheerful look growing even more enthusiastic at the sight of not just guests, but one guest in particular who had brought so much food.

“I think I was expecting a bell to ring somewhere or something,” she sang out, gathering her skirts in one hand and moving briskly, almost at a skip, over to join the new arrivals. She administered her greetings to familiar faces as she went and as she spoke: an “I'm watching you” gesture at Maus in passing, a nod for Blarney, a firm handshake for Edam, and finally a hug for Ekstrom.

She was accompanied by a silent figure who followed just behind her in a gait quite a bit more stately but no less brisk: the tall and stern-faced ghost of the Garde, who looked like he should maybe be in the lists himself, if he hadn't been made of wisp and shadow. He gave Ekstrom a nod of familiarity, extending the silent gesture to the others as Joy informally made her round of introductions.

“Edam, Blarney, this is Gouvernail. Gouvernail, two young friends of mine - I've told you about Blarney. I have no idea how this is going to go,” she continued, apparently not expecting any answer from her ghost and indeed not receiving any, as he stood with his arms folded behind himself in a posture of watchfulness, as if he had any utility as a guard at all. Maybe it was just long habit from life, never shaken. “Possibly it is going to be a complete disaster,” she said, not sounding even slightly nervous at the prospect of failure. “But we can all have fun making asses of ourselves, if that's the case. Welcome to the Garde, and all that. If there's time I can show you around, but you're welcome to go anywhere that the doors aren't locked. Ping me on the ring if you get lost. I thought maybe - oh my God, tell me there's cherries in that cobbler,” she interrupted herself, having finally spied the dish.

—

Maus, meanwhile, spied a certain alien senshi with whom he had some familiarity, although only in a brief and strange and dreamlike sense. He waved at her, as soon as it felt likely that he might catch her eye, and gave her a smile, calling out: “We've got to stop meeting each other in extradimensional games and try - I don't know - coffee or something.”

Blarney shook his head in response to the new guest's question, and was about to suggest they all form a search/nosiness party and spread out to find their host, when the woman herself traipsed into their presence. He beamed as Miss Joy joined them, straightening automatically in her presence. He wasn't even bothered that he only got a nod while Mads and the...Mercury? Maybe? Yes, Mercury, he remembered the sigil from the flashcards - Knight got a handshake and a hug respectively. He could chalk that up to his being a boy; that didn't necessarily mean that Joy liked his sister more. Definitely not.

His eyes flitted to the semi-transparent man following in Joy's wake, his eyebrows raising slightly at Joy's casual mention. She talked about me? he wondered, equal parts thrilled and horrified - there was next to no way that whatever she had said had been complementary. Probably it was like 'god this kid is so annoying', but - well, at least he was memorable! And worth talking to a ghost about!

And she'd called them friends!!! That had to count for something!!!

Unconsciously, Blarney mimicked the ghost's posture, sliding his hands behind his back and giving the ghost a nod in response. He was just opening his mouth to say something - something stupid, probably - when their little semi-circle expanded rapidly, by way of two familiar faces.

Something warm rushed through him - he had been doing this long enough, and well enough, to have friends. Friends that wanted to talk to him at a party! At a party he'd been invited to!

Just in case, he silently pinched the tender skin of his own palm, behind his back, where nobody could see. Just in case he was dreaming.

When the illusion didn't fade, he turned his million-watt smile to the girls who joined them.

"Green Chapel, Aquitania! I'm so glad you guys are here," he said, giving them both a playfully formal bow, crossing his arm over his chest and everything. "Lady Joy, Green Chapel is a new Earth Page," he said, unable to keep the pride from his voice; he felt a bit protective and responsible for her, since she'd awakened at the same time as his own sister. "I was there when she and--and Edam awoke. Or, well, I was there two seconds after they awoke," he amended with a faint chuckle. "They fought off a Youma together," he added, graciously excluding his own part in that battle to give the credit to the ladies - they had, in fact, done the lion's portion of the work, and he gave them a proud smile once again.

As he did, Blarney glanced from the Knight to the tiny Senshi, and something went click in his brain.

This. This was why Green Chapel already knew the basics of powered life. She and Aquitania must be friends, or family, or something. The 'oh god I'm new and this is all so different' energy radiating off Green Chapel was not, in any way, directed to the kid at her elbow, meaning they were already comfortable with each other.

Well. Good. It was good she had a net to fall back on, even if the net was a literal child. He didn't really need to know the specifics of their relationship, but he filed it away in his brain for later, just in case.

"It won't be a disaster," he said, glancing back at Miss Joy, "but if it is, you have already way won bragging rights forever. Your Wonder is--" he glanced around, starry-eyed, hopeful, moved, "--it's beautiful. It's so--alive. I hope someday Blarney gets to be half this--this--" he gestured vaguely, looking for the word, "vibrant," he finally settled on, nodding to himself.

"Was it like this before?" he asked, glancing to the ghost, Gouvernail. "Or is it--is this new to you, too?"



Not for the first time, and not for the last, Madeline wished for even a drop of her brother's charisma. He knew so many people, he had so many friends, and she - had him. Well, and Joy's firm, business-like handshake, which did make her feel quite grown-up, she had to admit, but other than that, Mason was the only person she knew here.

It was so easy to shrink into his shadow, when he was brighter than the sun. He thrived in these situations, always knowing what to say, who to smile at, who to talk to, what questions to ask. Madeline - did not.

But you're not Madeline right now, she thought to herself, thinking about how Joy had warned her against letting this name, Edam, take over her actual name. She didn't want that - and she could see how that warning was necessary, for people like her brother, whom she was fairly convinced would sleep in his powered outfit if he could - but...maybe drifting into being someone else, being this Edam person, for just a little while, wouldn't hurt anything. Just until she found her sea legs, as it were. Even Green Chapel, who had powered up exactly when she had, looked more comfortable than Madeline felt.

As their circle expanded and more people joined them, she was tempted to extricate herself and go - elsewhere. Somewhere. Anywhere else.

It was just that there was a little kid with them. All dressed up like they were, introducing herself as Sailor Something-or-Other of Courage. Mason had conveniently left out the fact that there were kids involved in this, and she had to put a lid on her rage before it boiled right out of her mouth.

Instead, she leaned down to be on the girl's level, giving her a smile as she did so.

"You look great in your--" she started to say costume, caught herself, changed course, "--uniform," she said. "I'm Edam, M--Blarney's sister," she said, nodding her head over to where Blarney was chattering on and on and on. God, if he had an off switch, she had yet to find it.

Edam glanced from the girl to Green Chapel, then back to the girl. "How long have you been...involved with this?" Edam asked carefully, only barely biting back the questions she wanted to ask, like 'where are your parents' and 'do you have a way home' and 'please tell me the monsters don't come after you, too' and a million other things. Madeline was a natural-born babysitter, and she couldn't help it - as soon as a kid entered their orbit, that kid was her priority.

"Do you want to explore the Garde with me a little? See what we'll be doing today?"



Kua'kua's eyes flitted over to the source of the noise, a shy smile coming to her face in spite of herself.

"I hope this game is nothing like the other one," she said, moving across the space to join him. "But I am afraid I do not know what 'coffee' is." Kua'kua smiled, holding it for a moment, before she let out a soft, airy chuckle. "Well, that is not entirely true. I know it is a drink. But I have never had it before, though I have smelled it." Kua'kua wrinkled her nose slightly. "I can only assume it tastes better than it smells, or else you Earthlings would not drink it so frequently."

Kua'kua glanced across the field, watching all the new arrivals filter in, move together, chat. "Do you know any of these people?" Kua'kua asked, tilting her head slightly at Maus. She still did not understand what a chivalry was, but she did understand it was something about interpersonal relationships; currently she had no one to do chivalry to. With. On? For? Whatever. Perhaps, if Maus had no one either, they could do chivalry together. Somehow.

"Oh - the Green Chapel," she said, her eyes brightening still more. "Amazing." This might have seemed as though Joy knew of the Knight be reputation, possibly via Blarney - who did indeed seem to know everyone - but was, in fact, only a pleasant recognition of her name as a phrase of some fondness in her civilian life. "And Aquitainia. An entire youma is incredible - I had to run from mine and get rescued by a buff redhead and a cat," she said.

She did not respond to Blarney's observation about the liveliness of the place with anything more than a smile, which wasn't without its gratitude. These kinds of observations always had a level of pain in them, which had recently taken on a different character; she did not need to turn to know that Gouvernail did not outwardly react, nor to know that he, too, inwardly felt the pang of it. It was brief, and it would pass, and it was, even, not without its pleasure.

It would have been polite to wave off all these little courtesies and bows. But she didn't, of course. What was the point of having her own castle if she wasn't going to be treated like a Queen while she was in it? The fact that there was, yet again, a ******** child here - named Aquitania, of all things, a place firmly connected to very adult ideas in her own mind at least - had thrown her momentarily off her kilter, given her opinion on what she stubbornly insisted on calling child soldiers, but now was not the time. The Garde was maybe not the best place for it, but at this point any crevice of powered life that could offer anything like a sanctuary of comparative festivity and normalcy was probably as much as she could do for these so-called chibi Senshi, so she only smiled at her instead, pressing her hand and feeling very grateful when Edam took over as smoothly as Elaine's own sister would have in the same situation. Elaine - and consequently Joy - liked children, but was much better suited as a Cool Aunt than any active caretaker.

Joy was busy looking with delight through the Ekstrom-procured concessions joining her own, with the occasional exclamation of satisfaction, while the conversations were going on around her, while Gouvernail looked slightly startled at being directly addressed.

If he had heard anything of the previous Garde from Sabia it might only have been that he had been a man known for a quick and angry and violent temper despite the solidity of his moral compass, a sort of trained animal for the efficient murdering of enemies of the peace - which might or might not have made the unexpected quiet gentleness of his voice seem either strange or possibly dangerous.

"The Garde was always a place of beauty," he said, after a moment's hesitation. "And sometimes a place of hospitality. But a place of festivity - it was not often so, in my time. It wanted a keeper who suited the other half of its name."

---

"The host," said Maus. "And not a soul otherwise, aside from yourself. And between you and me - don't tell her - I like you much more than her. She's pretty scary."

(Had he known that this was not true - that he had known the woman behind the guise of Ekstrom - he might have found a way to vanish for the remainder of the tournament.)

"There's coffee here," he added, with sudden alacrity. "Cold, too - the only way it's worth drinking - let me get you a drink. That, or anything else. It tastes pretty bad," he finished cheerfully, "unless you dump a bunch of sugar and milk in it, but I can do that."

The invitation had surprised Halia when she received it, and she had immediately resolved herself to attend. Not only would it be lovely to see Joy's wonder, but she could only imagine who all might be in attendance that she would get to see again. She was sure that Blarney would be there, no chance of him missing something like this, but as for anyone else, she had no idea. And really, that made it all the more exciting to her.

Arriving on the wonder, Aruna looked around in awe. It was so different from her planet, so beautiful and full of life and color. It was absolutely breathtaking and she made a note to tell Joy as much when she spotted her. Thankfully, spotting the host in question didn't take long, and Aruna made her way over to her with a vibrant smile. "Joy, this is lovely! And your wonder looks beautiful." There weren't enough words in the English language to express how she felt about the lovely place.

Despite wanting to continue to shower Joy in compliments, her attention was immediately drawn away as she recognized multiple familiar faces. Instinctively wanting to make her way over to the twins, Aruna paused when she spotted Aberdonia and changed her path. Walking over to the Senshi, she smiled warmly and pulled him into a hug. "I'm glad to see you here. You deserve a little fun, I think, all things considered. If you'd like, there are some people I'd love to introduce you to later?" She knew Aberdonia was around the same age as the twins, so it would make sense to introduce them, in her mind.

Eternal Solaris of Catalysts & Vellus




It wasn't very often she went to a Knight's wonder. That was the number one thing that piqued her curiosity to the point of automatic confirmation she absolutely needed to check this out. The prospect of joining in whatever competitions the tournament consisted of, seeing who else showed up, a party.... all of those were cherries on top and made her all the more hyped up for the event. So, she certainly made sure to pack plenty of drinks of both the hydration and fun kinds into a bag she shoved into subspace (along with the gear for if she did spend the night), slung an acoustic guitar over a shoulder, and opted to carry the large covered bowl of pasta salad she'd decided on bringing. Gluten-free pasta, cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, a variety of chopped up bell peppers, red onion, carrots, chickpeas... all kept large enough for people to pick out what they didn't like, she figured. Three smaller bowls balanced on top separated out the optional thick sliced pepperoni, feta cheese, and sliced hard boiled eggs as other allergies or dietary restrictions she was at least aware of humans having...

The containers were all snap-seals, a requirement that she thought would help keep inquisitive and greedy paws out.... Solaris huffed as she adjusted her hold on the main bowl after settling onto the ground of the wonder from the magical transport, glaring at the small winged creature that skittered from her shoulders down to try and work at one of the side latches of the pepperoni container. "Don't you even. I'll get you some after I put this stuff wherever it needs to go," she hissed at Vellus, his tufted ears flicking towards her before flattening as he chittered and proceeded to exceedingly slowly crawl back up her arm to his perch on her shoulders. She'd debated giving him a mock chitter-teeth clack back, making her way slowly towards at least one familiar face she spotted (Ekstrom).

But a figure far closer to her snagged her attention, and Solaris turned the automatic smile to the brunette (Liriope), eyes widening slightly in amusement to register the near collision. Her mouth opened to try and reassure the other woman all was well, and the words tangled on her tongue as she registered the rest of what she was saying after the apologies. Aren't from Earth. Her teeth clicked close as her eyes ran over the other's form, taking in aspects of her features that.... yep. Didn't quite match a human's. Solaris' grin rapidly returned, brighter and gleeful. "You're good! They're useful identifiers, it's true," she added with a flex and quick outstretching of her wings before they folded against her back once more. "Name's Solaris. Glad I caught your attention, it's always good to run into others. Also have Grieve over there." She nodded her head lightly, gesturing to the yellow, blue, and horned tall woman she'd just spotted herself over with some other folks.

"Not sure who else is here... ah. This is Vellus. He likes shiny things, so feel free to tap him on the head if he tries to snatch one of your bells." The introduction was made dryly as she spotted the youngster starting to perk up and ruffle his various wings along his body at her shoulder, his tail losing its grip along her upper arm in his growing interest in the shiny objects on the other senshi's uniform and hair. Being called out caused certainly didn't phase him, if he even understood it, instead focused on making curious chitters and whistles to the new person.