Character Mansion

[Kitchen]

The meal was now ready for consumption, but Claire kept it in the oven on low heat while Oswald was still away.

Meanwhile, after some dutiful colouring, Tamara finally completed her masterpiece. She gazed upon it, deeply satisfied with the bold colours and near-total lack of smudging, then picked it up. "Here." She said, walking over to Anne and passing her the paper. "I drew this for you!"

It might take a moment to decipher the cryptic image - it was drawn by an eight year old using markers, after all - but it appeared to be of a woman in a green dress riding a dark blue unicorn through a flowery meadow. She looked quite pleased, as well. The word "ANNE" is written above the woman's head with an arrow pointing down at her. "Do you like it?" Said Tamara, beaming at her.

[Sparring Room]

It was becoming increasingly difficult for Ozzy to keep a stern face. When Aseyu dropped her veritable bomb of sexual vagaries, it felt as though his face would explode into a million different humiliating expressions if he so much as blinked, let alone divert into the dozens of things he wanted to and had to say about her idea. As it was, outside of a slight twitch of one of his narrowed eyes, a momentary wobble in his jaw, the crease in his brow subtly deepening, and his tail going rather rigid, Ozzy remained outwardly unaffected.

He continued to stare at Grimhilde as he slowly opened his mouth to speak, and continued to stare at her even as he addressed Aseyu. "Aseyu," he said loudly, "I think it would be best if we discussed this further at a later time." His jaw remained tight as he spoke, nearly leaving him to enunciate through clenched teeth, however, simply addressing the matter seemed to relieve him, as he loosened up shortly afterward.

"Well now, Grimhilde," he said, his mouth a menacing smile dressed as a reasonable one, "why not simply explain these circumstances to us, mmm? If you are truly innocent, then why not go ahead and prove it? What would make Anne ever-so certain that you are responsible for her curse?" He glanced at her hand, then back at her, narrowing his eyes again. "Or you can continue to be vague. Maybe a view of the floor will out the truth." he stepped back and folded his arms. "Unless you think you can stop me, but given the condition of your fight with Aseyu," he glanced down at her hand on the mirror again, "I don't believe that's going to happen."

Kitchen

Anne had been sitting in silence, occasionally casting a glance towards the cellar, when Tamara gave her the picture she had just completed. She looked at it for a few seconds before figuring out what it was. When she did realize it, she smiled.

"I definitely appreciate the thought put into it," she said, "If you keep it up, I bet you'll surpass even the artists who paint the castle walls someday."

She then cast a glance towards the cellar. "Oswald's certainly taking a while, isn't he?" she mused, more to herself than to Claire or Tamara, "I wonder how he's doing with Grimhilde?"

Try as she might, Grimhilde couldn't quite get the necessary magic to transform. Time for a new plan.

"Before I tell you anything," she said, voice going from annoyed to angry, "How about you tell me why this even matters to you? You've known the girl for all of one night, and I'm willing to bet even less than that. For all you know, you could be defending a murderer who was cursed for her crimes. And 'because it's wrong' is not an answer."

While she was saying this, she switched the image on her mirror from a dragon face to an image of the sparring room; specifically, a spot that was somewhere behind Oswald. If absorbing its magic wouldn't work, perhaps a function of the mirror itself would.

[Sparring Room]

Aseyu snickered slightly at Ozzy's reaction. She motioned at the camera drone — which had been quietly floating around the entire time — and whispered something to it. It bleeped and then resumed recording. Then she told Grimhilde, "I could always punch you with antimagic again. It's kinda fun. Also, curses are terrible punishments." She snorted in disgust. "If Anne was a murderer, which seems unlikely, her would-be judge let her loose to murder again. Disfigured but still capable. Pretty terrible job there. Nah, this curse smells of good old fashioned spite."

[Sparring Room]

Ozzy closed his eyes and shook his head, his voice calmer than it had been before. "There is no doubt in my mind. I've come to you with an unfettered conviction and your constant pussyfooting has only served to reaffirm what I already believe. There are no loose bricks, no cracks, no rat holes to exploit; nothing you try to stir will change my mind, and I have no inclination to answer your question." he shrugged, "Withhold the truth as long as you wish, I needn't know your side of the tale. The only thing at risk is my curiosity."

He nodded towards Aseyu as she offered her own two cents. "More holes of your own. So many 'what if's and 'for all you know's. I'll tell you what Grimhilde, for all I know, I recognized that girl's feelings. I know them, and I empathized with her. She is a victim; the mark of unmerited abuse. And it's wrong. It's damn wrong." His voice sharpened from calm to cold, and he stepped closer to the woman. "It makes my blood boil to see it happen again. Only this time, a difference can be made. And if I can make that difference, I will. If I can set things proper, I will."

He took another step and glowered at Grimhilde, coming very close to her. "Let's try this one more time, your Majesty. The truth. Tell me the truth."

edited 28th Aug '13 1:13:49 AM by Ryuhza

Sparring Room

Grimhilde didn't so much as flinch when Oswald got in her face. If anything, she looked only slightly more annoyed than she already was.

"Dispense with the stupid morality speech and strike me down already," she said, surprisingly calmly, "Neither of us has anything to gain from this exchange. So you might as well get it over with. Release all your anger and walk away praising yourself for doing the so-called 'right thing.'" The end of that statement was filled to the brim with venom. "You won't get a drop of actual value out of it."

edited 28th Aug '13 12:39:47 PM by Yomegami

[Sparring Room]

Ozzy's eyes flicked around as he slowly studied Grimhilde's face. They weren't entirely filled with enmity. Every now and again, there was a flash of confusion— of unfulfillment. The flash became more frequent until it was the only presence that still subsisted.

He frowned, then sighed, then stepped back from the woman. He lowered his head and gazed at the floor, and let his arms fall to his sides, beneath his cloak. "I have been brash." he said, "Rude. Running on emotional impulsiveness, and I have stepped too far." He rubbed the side of his muzzle, then, after looking back up at the queen, he bowed. "Your Royal Majesty, perhaps I have been mistaken. Please, I only wish to hear your side of the story. If you would tolerate my presence just to grant me that, you need not bear my company ever again."

[Kitchen]

Tamara was quite delighted when Anne liked the picture. "Thanks!" She said. "My mom always says I'm a good artist... But when I grow up, I want to be a doctor." She wandered back to her seat and a drone supplied her with some more paper. Eagerly, she set about drawing something else... She wasn't sure what she wanted to draw yet, but was confident it would take shape eventually.

"You're right." Said Claire, glancing over at the cellar. "I hope nothing unfortunate has happened. I think I'll go check... Stay here, okay Anne?" She said, as she turned off the oven but left the meal inside. "I'll just be a moment." She opened the door to the cellar and took a few steps down the stairs.

Kitchen

When Claire started making her way down into the cellar, Anne was torn between staying behind, as Claire suggested she'd do, and following her. On one hand, she still really was curious as to what Grimhilde and Aseyu might have been up to. On the other hand, someone needed to stay behind and watch Tamara.

In the end, it appeared as if she decided to heed Claire's advice, though she continued to watch Claire as she descended into the cellar.

Given his apparent anger, Grimhilde was very surprised when Oswald didn't take a swing at her. Actually, she wasn't just surprised; she was a little disappointed. After all that buildup, she was hoping to see something a little more climatic.

"I did not lie when I said the curse wasn't my doing," she said after a brief pause, "I was simply the one who ordered it. The girl is indeed a criminal, but she isn't guilty of anything as grievous as murder. No, her crimes were a combination of theft and treason. She worked with her father in a diligent attempt to remove me from the throne. However, I caught on to what they were doing and put them on trial." She frowned. "The man, as the main mastermind behind the attempt, was executed. I felt merciful towards the girl, however, and so only decided to have Ulrich put the curse on her. With how distinctive she looks now, she won't be getting away with anything so easily."

The better part of her mind knew Oswald probably wasn't going to buy it, but maybe this time he'd actually put his money with his mouth was. Besides, as far as she was concerned, what she had just said was the truth.

[Sparring Room]

Ozzy slowly rose back up to his full height. It took him a few tries to speak, opening his mouth slightly, closing it again, looking stern, but ruminative, then repeating. On the third try, he finally managed, "Well, I'm... surprised—pleasantly so—that you chose to answer. I had thought that I'd gone too far in my brazenness for you to recompense with what seems to be a solid answer." he tried to hide the disappointment from his voice, though it wasn't too difficult, for now there was uncertainty in his mind. Uncertainty and conflict.

There was no way to tell the truth with the words from only one side of the scenario, but Anne was all the way back upstairs. Ozzy would look like a fool running back and forth between them, but without Anne's help, how could he solve this conflict? Still, perhaps he could get just a bit more from Grimhilde, for whatever her words turned out to be worth.

Looking slightly downward toward the floor, Ozzy spoke. "You've given me a fair answer, yet my mind remains ill at ease." he raised his troubled eyes to meet the woman's again. "You say that the girl and her father worked to remove you from the throne, committing crimes of theft and treason. Specifically, this pertains to what? What did they do?"

[Kitchen —> Cellar]

Claire shut the door behind her and walked down the stairs. She noticed a strange, smokey scent in the air as she arrived at the end of the staircase. "Hello?" She called out, nearing the slightly ajar door to the sparring room. "Oswald? Are you down here?"

[Cellar]

It was Aseyu who greeted Claire. "Small world," she said with a grin. "Yeah, Ozzy's here, dealing with Her Majesty." She rolled her eyes. "Then I've got some... plans for him after that. What you need him for? Or just making sure he hadn't gotten eaten by the dragon Grimhilde their tried turning into?"

edited 2nd Sep '13 11:45:02 AM by KillerClowns

Kitchen

Once Claire had left, Anne got up. She stood there for a few more moments with a rather indecisive look on her face, before making her way over to Tamara.

"...You think you can look after yourself for a little bit?" she asked.

"The very act of the attempt was exactly what I meant by 'theft and treason,'" Grimhilde said, "It was theft for they attempted to steal the crown away from me, and it was treason as they attempted to dispose of the rightful ruler and do a great injustice to Theoland." She didn't bother elaborating on it. The sooner she could get this increasingly annoying minotaur away from her, the better.

She ignored the newcomer for now.

[Sparring Room —> Cellar —> Kitchen]

"Ah." Ozzy said, his eyes narrowing only very slightly. "So I see. Very well," he bowed his head, "Now, I don't suppose you'd mind answering one last question before we part from each other's sight forever—if we can help it—would you? It's just that- mm- ahem-" he raised a hand to his throat, massaging it lightly and making several unsuccessful attempts to clear it before declaring in what seemed a slightly hoarse voice, "Hm, eck-excuse me, I think I need a quick drink. If you'll just wait one moment..."

He nodded politely, then headed for the door out to the cellar, shortly after Aseyu. As he stepped outside, he noted Claire, and spoke in a perfectly normal voice, albeit somewhat quieter than usual. "Oh, hello Claire. Was I taking to long?" without waiting for an answer, Ozzy glanced between her and Aseyu and said, "Ladies, would you mind keeping an eye on Grimhilde for me? I'll be right back, but I need to speak with Anne, and I wouldn't want her Majesty leaving without being there to send her off." He smiled at the two as he walked past them to the stairs, said, "Busy busy, we are!" then ascended the stairs with great haste and emerged into the kitchen.

"Anne! Just the girl I wanted to see." Ozzy hurriedly made his way over to the kitchen table and grabbed his partially drunk bottle of root beer, took a quick swig, then set it down and said, "I need to talk to you for just a moment."

[Cellar]

"Ah, hello again, Aseyu." Said Claire, stepping into the room. She'd hardly finished the sentence when Ozzy dashed by, not waiting for her reply. "Curious." She remarked, seeming a bit confused by Ozzy's rush. "Anyway, it's nice to see you again, Aseyu. It's been a couple of hours..." She glanced down at Aseyu's bare bosom. "And I see you're still in peak physical condition." She said, with a quick wink. "But... Did you say 'dragon'? Did I miss something terribly interesting?" She looked over at Grimhilde. "Ah, so you're Grimhilde, I presume?" She offered to shake her hand. "I'm Claire."

[Kitchen]

"Huh?" Said Tamara, looking up from her drawing. "Oh, well, yeah, sure." She said, a little surprised. "Where ya going?"

Kitchen

Anne glanced towards the cellar, then back at Tamara. "Well, I know Claire said that I should stay put here, but...."

She trailed off when Oswald re-entered the room and asked to speak with her. "...On second thought, never mind."

She then turned to address him. "I take it you're not getting much out of Grimhilde?"

"A drink," Grimhilde repeated, trying her best but failing to keep the skepticism out of her voice, "Very well. Don't be long."

As soon as he was gone, she removed her mirror from her belt and tapped the top of it twice again. The image on it swirled as it switched from one setting to another. Namely, it was now focused once again on Anne. Grimhilde recognized the location as the kitchen, which mildly surprised her. Had she'd been paying more attention earlier, she could have dealt with this much sooner.

More importantly, the mirror's image also showed Oswald talking to Anne. Just as Grimhilde expected him to. She didn't expect the little puterelle to actually know anything about the real course of events, but she would most definitely disprove everything Grimhilde told him. She needed to step in before things went too awry....

At that moment, the newcomer tried introducing herself to Grimhilde. Grimhilde glared at her, making no move to even bother shaking her hand. "One moment, please," she responded, before turning away.

[Kitchen]

"Spot on." Ozzy said, his eyes flickering towards the cellar stairs. "I've tried to appeal to the old shrew's better half, but she's still holding back something and I need an idea of what that something is. I've very little doubt that it's something very disagreeable; enough to warrant the swift hand of her own comeuppance, and I'll be a damned fool before I let her guilt me out of setting this straight." He glanced towards Tamara, and—a little sheepishly—said, "Oh- ah, sorry."

"So," he continued, looking back at Anne, "she's told me that you and her father worked together to remove her from the throne, thus justifying her extreme actions. I'd consider it, except that she refuses to divulge a single detail about what exactly you two supposedly did to 'remove her from the throne'. All judgement aside—after all, I know only a little about Grimhilde as a person and nothing of her as a Queen—what can you tell me about your alleged crimes?" he glanced back towards the cellar stairs again, his eyes narrowing and tail stiffening as he said, "Unless... of course... she is making the entire thing up."

Ozzy paused, his eyes fixed on the stairs as his mind went over possible methods of delivering just desserts. After a few moments, he glanced back at Anne and said, "Oh! And quickly, if you will. I told her I was merely coming here to get a drink, and the less on-guard she is, the better."

[Sparring Room]

Aseyu smiled at Claire and said, "great to see you, and thanks for the kind word. Love to chat, but first things first."

"Such a naughty little toy," Aseyu said to Grimhilde. She leaned over Grimhilde — not coincidentally putting herself in position to shatter any spell she started to cast — and looked at the mirror. She quietly muttered to herself, "four-three, four-three... odd coincidence." Then, in a sing-song voice, "mirror mirror, though it's lewd / show us Grimhilde, sweetly nude." She didn't expect to do anything but annoy Grimhilde, but that would be enough.

edited 3rd Sep '13 1:05:16 PM by KillerClowns

Sparring Room

The mirror, fortunately for Grimhilde, did not react to Aseyu's command. It was probable that it only responded to Grimhilde's voice, although it was just as likely that what Aseyu asked it to do was out of its range of powers.

"Damn whore," Grimhilde muttered under her breath, though without bothering to look up from her mirror. By the looks of things, it didn't look like Anne had told Oswald anything yet. Coupled with the fact that these two would no doubt cause her no end of trouble, the time was now to act and put a stop to this.

She took a quick step forwards to get the mirror out of Aseyu's range of influence, then quickly placed the palm of her hand on the glass. "Farewell," she hissed at both Aseyu and Claire before she vanished....

"Is that what sort of slander she's trying to feed you?" Anne responded, sounding more than a little annoyed. "Grimhilde was never meant to be the real ruler to begin with; she was presumably just jealous that I was next in line for the throne. If anything, the only 'crime' I'm guilty of is being prettier than she was, and that's according to her mirror."

She would have continued, had Grimhilde not decided to warp behind Oswald with an absolutely furious look on her face. Her attention was focused almost entirely on him, although she cast a quick glare in Anne's direction to let her know that she hadn't fallen beneath her notice.

"And just what sort of idiot do you think I am, Oswald?" she asked.

edited 4th Sep '13 1:03:33 PM by Yomegami

[Kitchen]

"Next in line for the throne? So your father was the king?" Ozzy asked, a little surprised. He rubbed the side of his forehead and growled, "It figures. Of course she would fail to mention any kind of royal connection. I'm sure she'd have me think you and your father were peasants." he pressed his fist into the table, jaw clenched tightly, and began to say "Dam-" before glancing at Tamara again, surrounded by her markers and the picture that she'd drawn. "D-darn. Darn that woman!"

He shut his eyes for a moment, then let his breath and anger out in a large airy sigh. When he seemed fit, he focused back on Anne and said, "Well, you had better tell me all you can. If I'm going to have an accusation, I suppose it's best to have on as undeniable as possible." he smiled darkly, "When I return to confront her majesty, the paragon of petulance, I'll-"

It was then that Grimhilde appeared behind him, the cutting snarl of her voice interrupting Ozzy before he could finished. While he did flinch, and his eyes widened in surprise at her sudden reappearance, the anger that he'd just released came back an instant later.

With an unhealthy glower, he spun around and matched the woman's stare. "Don't you even start! I've caught on to your lies, and your game is up Grimhilde! You can pretty it up all you like, but there's only one criminal in this room." he thrust his finger towards her and spat the word out slowly, "You."

[Kitchen]

Tamara was quite confused when Ozzy stomped in and started talking to Anne. She opened her mouth to say something when Grimhilde abruptly appeared in the room, and then things got quite tense. "EEK!" She yelped at the sight of Grimhilde, diving out of her chair and under the table. She wasn't sure who the strange woman was, but she knew she didn't want to be around her, especially not given how Oswald was talking to her.

"Psst!" She whispered from under the table, lightly tugging Anne's dress. "Lets get out of here!" She paused, a deeply concerned look on her face as she glanced over her shoulder at Ozzy and Grimhilde's legs. "Please?"

[Sparring Room]

"Well that was... Quite something..." Said Claire, seeming a little stunned by Grimhilde's sudden disappearance.

Tamara's brief yelp was scarcely audible from the sparring room, and Aseyu might have easily missed it. But Claire did not. "Did you hear something?" She said, walking out of the room. "Hello? Oswald? Is everything alright up there?" She called out as she walked to the base of the stairs.

[Sparring Room —> Kitchen]

Aseyu sighed as she retrieved and put on her top. "Well," she said, "something tells me I won't get getting to try that experiment with Ozzy I was so looking forward to." She followed Claire to the base of the stairs, then continued upwards into the kitchen. "Grimhilde," she said, smirking, "and just what are you up to now?"

Kitchen

"Oh, I'm the criminal here?" Grimhilde snarled, "Just because the unreliable words of a little, half-rotten puterelle said I was? You dare take the word of someone like that over the word of a queen?" Her voice got louder and angrier as she went on. "Her words are the lies, lies, LIES, LIES! I earned this title! I am the rightful ruler of Theoland! And nothing that comes out of the wretched throat of a goddamned minotaur and his half-dead friend will change the truth!"

Anne took a step or two back from her increasingly unhinged stepmother as she ranted on, hands clasped together and looking quite nervous. She looked down at Tamara when the little girl started tugging at her dress. She was almost ready to agree with her; this sort of situation was one she really wanted nothing to do with.

However, she then thought a little more about what Oswald told her Grimhilde had said about herself and her father. No doubt she had told the other patrons of this house similar lies. Hell, she might have well been telling these lies to everyone back in Theodiscus! Should she really let Grimhilde get away with that?

She looked back up towards the situation, and her nervous expression turned into a determined one. Whatever the others were going to say to the queen, she wanted a piece of it. This was a chance to get back at her for practically ruining her life, and properly this time as well.

"No," she said, "I think the others could use the help in teaching Grimhilde a thing or two." With that, she walked back up and stood next to Oswald, fixing Grimhilde with one nasty death glare.

[Kitchen]

Ozzy focused on only two things as Grimhilde blew up at him in a fit of rage: breathing, and holding her in his stare. His mouth was locked in a stubborn frown, not shifting aside from a few angry twitches and a flare of his large nostrils. His eyes were fixed on the woman raving like a lunatic in front of him, and he scarcely even blinked.

When she had finally finished- or had at least given pause for an opening to retort, Ozzy blinked slowly, then said. "You're done, Grimhilde. There is no one left here that you can hope to fool. You can shout, and scream, and rage all you like, it doesn't hardly matter to me. What's a little hot air blown in my face? All I hear is the pot calling the kettle black."

He raised his voice slightly, though it was more to boldly reinforce his obstinance than an act of anger. "There is a simple way to tell a liar from someone speaking the truth. Tonight I have heard the same story from the mouths of two different people; two different sides of the same history. Anne spoke to me freely and without reserve. No question asked went unanswered, and no facade barred the way to that answer. Yet when I spoke to you Grimhilde, I had to weasel past your bloated and purloined sense of self-righteousness just to draw out the vaguest withered scrap of the truth, and as it turned out, that scrap was missing several fine details." He shook his head, narrowing his eyes in a look of unabashed disapproval. "I can't fathom how many lies passed between those lips to put you on that throne. So much lying that you have begun to mistake for the truth."

Before she could cut back in, Ozzy continued sharply, even louder and with more bravado than before. "But what is even more sickening is that you honestly seem to expect me to regard your word more highly than Anne's because of her condition— because of what you did to her— the curse that you are responsible for!" paused, breathing excitedly for a moment before breaking back in with, "And as for myself! You call me a minotaur, but minotaur I am not. I am a man! I am a human being! Just as much as you are, just as much as Anne is. Perhaps my horns have confused you? Perhaps you cannot help but note my bestial tail? Perhaps when you look at my face, all you can see is a monstrous snout not fit for speaking to royalty? I understand that you have an unhealthy fixation on appearances, so perhaps, in all of that, you somehow could not recognize a man, just as you are unable to recognize the beast in yourself, bearing her wooden fangs as she is cornered. You miserable deluded woman. Were you not filled with so much hate, you would be pitiful."

[Kitchen]

Aseyu nodded and said, "you sort of remind me of Amu." The drones reacted to this, warily watching Aseyu. "How do you sleep at night?" Then her grin turned venomous. "No, no, I'm not referring to guilt eating away at you in the twilight between waking and sleep. You're as devoid of a conscience as Amu." She closed her eyes and she considered — at least Amu had done some good in his life before his fall. Unlike Grimhilde, it seemed. "No, worse, Alice. But really, you're just such a bitch I'm surprised no conspiracy of vassals has suffocated you in your sleep yet."

edited 6th Sep '13 8:52:26 AM by KillerClowns