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March 25th, 1411

It took a long time for the shock to wear off within the household. A member of the staff of servants, with them for months and a personal friend of many, exposed as a member of the cult of Obscuvos after attempting to kidnap the young master and his plague, along with poisoning the rest of the household. Exile into the wilderness had been her sentence, but even knowing that she was no longer a threat did nothing to assuage frayed nerves, the trust between master and servant broken and the consequences in full swing. One by one the remaining servants had been brought before the masters of the household for magical interrogation, and while there were no other agents of Obscovos revealed to be in the house hold, many dirty little secrets found themselves aired to the world. The masters had not been seeking this end, but it had become inevitable with the nature of the interrogation and the overall relations and mood of the house became more tense than ever.

It was this sort of environment Nella found herself hastily fleeing on the morning of the 25th, barely dodging a thrown pan as a servant screamed at another for cheating on them. Turning her head back for a second to give a scowl to the now escalating argument, she went as quickly as she could to the courtyard, shoulders hunched and mood souring rapidly. For the first time in her short life the lantern found herself getting truly angry, fed up with over two whole days of this nonsense. As she floated over the new layer of snow, her thoughts buzzed like a hornet's nest, just as frenzied and just as angry, her hands beginning to smolder with heat.

Why were they acting like they had gotten the worst of it? Had they nearly been kidnapped, and then almost squeezed and trampled to death? No, they had not! I went through all of that, and it's Dan and I that were almost kidnapped and taken to the cult! If anyone has the right to be upset, it's us!
........ they did nearly get killed too with the poison though....
Well.... we still went through the worst of it! Why do they have to be making such a racket over petty stuff?! Why are they getting so upset?
...... but then again how do I know I wouldn't be upset if I had those kind of things?
How...
Why -- !

"AAAHH!!!"

Nella finally screamed out in frustration, wanting to be angry at everyone else but unable to even justify her own thoughts. In her rage an ember bloomed in her right hand, and she whirled around, furious, throwing it into the snow with all her might. It sputtered and died with a small puff of steam, and as she watched it her rage died too, head drooping and shoulders slumping. These past few days had been too much. Just too much.

It was at this point that it finally sank in to Nella that she was in a part of the courtyard she had never been in before, not even with Dan. For one thing, she was surrounded on all sides by trees, trees that blocked out a good deal of the outside light and made it near impossible to see directly out to the courtyard; she was able to see that a human would have had to walk a snaking path to even get to this little copse of trees. Twisting around as she floated, she tried to take in the surroundings, but her progress was halted just a few moments later when she backed into something solid.

Springing away with a yelp from the cold, she turned around, expecting to see a tree, but instead encountered something completely different. It was a slab of stone a little over twice her height, somewhat rough with a rounded top. The phasmas noticed there was writing upon it, but it was covered by snow and ice, and she approached cautiously to see what she could find. While she couldn't brush the snow off herself without extreme physical pain, she could do something else. Carefully putting her hands just scant millimeters away from the snow over the writing, her hands began to glow hot and the air before them distorted in the heat, newly melted water dribbling down the stone and refreezing before reaching the ground. After a couple minutes her work was finally complete, and as Nella backed up she realized with sickening lurch that she was looking at a tombstone.

Faina Mairlen
1389-1410
Forever Loved, Never Forgotten

A cacophony of different feelings and questions assaulted the lantern, along with a underlining sensation of strangeness that she couldn't shake, unconnected to the fact that she was gazing at grave. Her small body showed every tense breath she took, the name, date, and words before her almost seeming to brand into her mind. For a long while she just floated there, frozen and staring at the tombstone before her, the paralysis finally broken by the cracking of a snow laden branch. A startled breath was taken in, and then the plague turned and fled as quick as she could, no longer able to bear seeing something so simple and yet somehow so disturbing.[remove and tweak for different solo, Unhealed Wounds, set at a later date]

(( Hearing something flapping in the wind, Nella looks up and sees the crow ribbon caught in a tree branch. Focusing her current frustration on it, she becomes determined to retrieve it and starts to climb the tree. Eventually she reaches it, but upon tugging it free she falls and lands in the snow before she can right herself. Crying and in pain (but luckily not severely hurt) she flies out of the snow, ready to burn the ribbon right then and there, but stops. She can't help but notice that the color is the same as her dress, and that it feels somewhat similar to a plague, and she begins to what this means about her. Is she monstrous? Dan loves her, and the household (outside of Tanaya and the stunteds, who also love her) tolerates her, but she saw the fear in the town towards Sloane who is also a plague. Additionally, she considered the ribbon crow to be monstrous, yet the ribbon feels like plague. These thoughts begin to pile up with others (what does it mean to be a plague? What does mean to be a human like Dan? Why does she work with his magic, and how does she just know what to do?) into a full blown existential crisis. Eventually she exhausts herself, realizing she doesn't know the answers, but part of her also realizes that doesn't mean she can't learn. With this realization towards the future she finally sets the ribbon alight, watching the burning embers float away in the wind, determined, as young as she is, to learn and do all that she can. ))

(( Picking up the pieces after the riot, and an understanding is finally reached between Nella and Dan's parents. ))

April 19th, 1411

(( Dan, Nella, and his parents attending the coronation ))

(( Dan's parents start in their efforts repair the acre of forest they destroyed in Boiling Over, and Dan helps out ))

"Are... are you sure you'll be fine?"

"I'm sure Nella."

The lantern adjusted her dress another time as she watched Dan tie his cravat. He had told her many times that she looked regal enough for any gathering, but for Dan it was a much different manner and she had been made privilege to see the whole affair. Shirt, cravat, jacket, sash, pants, a boggling amount of ornaments, really it was enough to make her spin. While there were times she wished she could try another outfit, see herself in something else, little reminders like this would come along to make her not mind.

"Aaand there," Dan said, smoothing out the finished cravat. Nella could almost swear he should be creaking under the amount of finery he was wearing, and yet he carried it without any trouble. Just one more marker of the upbringing she was still getting used to.

"We aren't going to be late are we?" she asked, floating into his outstretched hand and up onto his shoulder. He shook his head. "I've given ourselves a large buffer time. With some parties you can never tell if early is considered on time or not, so it's better to be prepared." Nella paused, thinking. "... doesn't that mean if they're really stodgy we could end up late anyway?" A laugh from her grimm. "I suppose so, though if they frown on guests for being an hour early, I'd say they have other things they need to be focusing on. Come, let's go."

***

The moment they arrived, Nella knew one thing for certain. Dan wasn't nearly as dressed up as he could be. Nobleman after Noblewoman she found herself staring at the weight of jewels, the amount of layers on one individual, even a gold encrusted pair of spectacles! While she herself never minded being too hot, and knew that Shyregoed was eternally cold, she still wondered how some of these individuals managed to handle the heat of all their clothing. Soon she noticed that some of them weren't - those near the fire place were wiping their foreheads with their handkerchiefs. Trying to be discreet, but to Nella they weren't doing a very good job at it. There was a long moment of looking at the fireplace wistfully, but eventually she tore her gaze away, smiling politely at the guest Dan was currently talking to. There was a flicker of a glance towards her and then it was gone, the guest making a pointed effort to only talk to Dan.

While she was not the only plague seen on a shoulder or perhaps in a breast pocket or purse, there still weren't many present, and she could tell most that were happened to be stunteds. A particularly hapless button stunted fell of one man's shoulder after talking too loudly, and too her horror the man left without a second glance. There was a frantic search to see if he would escape the feet stomping around him, but soon enough she saw him scampering up another patron's leg and depositing themselves on their shoulder. She stared until he went out of view, flabbergasted by what she had just seen.

"And what would your name be small madam?"

"Oh!" Nella squeaked, startled by the question. She did her best to straighten herself out, still somewhat flustered, and eventually managed to give a small curtsey. "I am Nella, the lantern and in the care of Danylrein Galdenin. A pleasure to meet you."

The patron gave a small nod in return. "A pleasure to meet you also." They turned to Dan, lighting up with an almost impossibly bright smile. "Why, how incredibly well trained she is! You must be so proud."

... trained?

Dan stiffened under her just as the words began to sink in, smile becoming forced. "Thank you madam. If you would excuse me, there are other guests who I must still introduce myself to." He left before she could answer, footsteps quick. A minute later he was back in an apparent relaxed and amicable state, fielding questions with practiced ease, but the reaction had been unmistakable.

Continuing through the crowd Nella began to notice a pattern. Plagues were complimented, plagues were talked to, sometimes even doted on... but they were only treated as secondary, and sometimes even treated as objects. While not as common soon enough she found the disgusted glances out of the corner of her eye, those people not as comfortable with the plagues in their presence. She'd seen it before with Dan's parents, but here it was so much more... raw.

As the night wore on her smile became more and more forced, playing and pantomiming to nobles who would clap and applaud her good manners and her refined looks, all while ignoring her and her basic existence. Dan became more experienced at fencing the issue back to her, to the sometimes hesitation of guests, but he was persistent in both his technique and smile and it soon enough the guests would either acknowledge her or move on. Even so, she began to wilt more and more, and the less kind looks sparked an ugly resentment in her breast. Then came the whispers.

"That plague is too forward."

"She keeps talking with the other stunteds, such rudeness."

"They're unnatural I say, useful, but not to be trusted."

"She may look and sound pretty, but I can tell. That plague is a demon at heart."

"Unpure."

"Dirty."

"Why can't she be like the others stunteds and know her place?"

Festering and burning, the resentment grew, a slight wave of heat starting to roll off her body. Dan brought his hand up for a moment, touching his fingers to her own, and the lantern breathed deep, trying to bring the heat down. She mustn't prove them right. She could not sink to that level. But other words began to reach her.

"That Galdenin boy, he even dotes on her! A bad precedent."

"That boy is no good."

"Danylrein... a cripple. He will never amount to anything."

"Pathetic."

There was a metal rending shriek as Nella flared like a gunpowder explosion on Dan's shoulder, the boy gasping away from the sudden wave of heat on his neck and cheek. Apologizing for the disturbance as the other guests stared he went as quick as he could for the door, Nella shaking and bent over, hands over her mouth and personal light stuttering.

As soon as the two of them had managed to get into a private area Nella flew off of Dan's shoulder, screaming and beating the wall with flames and Dan only able to watch in dismay. Finally the flames guttered out and the lantern slumped to the floor, light dim.

"Why," she said, voice weak from screaming. "Why do they have to treat us... us like things? Like we're just some bauble to throw away? W-Why did they have to talk about you like that?!" She looked up at him crouching down next to her, shaking. "It's obscene! Cruel! Why...?"

Dan gave a hollow and weary sigh, scooping Nella up and holding her to his breast, the plague clutching his chest and sobbing out her frustrations. Crossing his legs he leaned against the wall and looked up to the ceiling with tired eyes. "I don't know," Dan said quietly. "There's no good reason for it, but it still happens. Many Nobles create their own world. Things, people, rules. Their rules." Breathing in and out, Nella's tears beginning to slow. "They have their view of the universe, and with the way things work it just gets reaffirmed again and again. And of course, since it works for them, they never see a reason for change."

The lantern breathed, tears quieted. "And you...?" A small smile in return. "Never got to make my own world. Probably never will."

"I'm glad," Nella said, hands tightening. Dan looked down at her, surprised, thinking over those words as the two other them waited for their carriage to arrive.

- Summons -

July


To be filled
Convert to home life solo

(( Stuff around the castle is being stolen and Nella is recruited by the resident stunteds to find out what is going on. After some investigation they discover Tanaya has had her bracelet stolen. Since the bracelet had been on a windowsill facing the courtyard, Nella decides to go investigate there, at which point she gets swooped by a magpie and carried off when she tries to catch it (the stunteds going into a panic). When she lands at the nest she tries to stop it, but without feet to brace the lantern fails. By this time she sees all the the stolen items in the nest, including the bracelet, and formulates a plan on how to get back. When the magpie returns she wrangles it with the bracelet and flies on it to return. Upon seeing her the stunteds go ballistic, and from that point on they try to duplicate her feat, with various and hilarious results. ))

(( Dan's birthday and reflections. Year older WHOA. ))