wizardseason | The Princess' Dream Citadel

The Princess' Dream Citadel

The Princess' Dream Citadel is a tower surrounded by waterfalls on all sides, surrounded by a spiral staircase that reaches every floor. At the top is a reflective platform below a starry moonlit sky. Within its many floors are any number of amenities that the Princess or the good-allured knights good need.

Each night, the Protector can be found on the roof, stargazing and listening to the sounds of the waterfalls around the tower.

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Luka's quiet for a long moment. "She told me tonight that you've killed a Princess in the past. Why would she say that? It couldn't be true."

He isn't sure if sharing this information is a mistake or not. But he need the truth, or at least both sides takes on the truth. Luka has to trust the Protector. Anything else isn't an option.

The Protector watches Olivia's face as she responds, searching her for any kind of details that might give away.

"It is like a child, lashing out at what it does not understand. It has many powers that it does not know how to use." He explains before turning to Luka.

If Luka was hoping to catch the Protector off guard, that isn't the case. The Protector is as calm and level as ever, his voice casual and unhurried as he answers.

"I have stood by as some met their end. That could be called killing them. I am not ashamed to admit I have watched those who sought he world to end meet their own demise without extending a hand." He turns away as he says it, eyes going back to the screens.

"Those who think that way this year haven't revealed themselves."

[She listens to his explanations silently - it sounds like their world is just as confused as anyone else to her. She quietly hopes the Knights will finally be able to help it this year.

She leans in a little as he talks about the evil allured Knights; Olivia didn't completely trust anyone yet, but none of the Knights she had met so far seemed like they had ulterior motives or any connection to the Wizard.] Is there anything we should be looking out for, specifically? To discover them?

"Ha! I knew she was bullshitting me. She made it sound so evil, but that's just common sense! And of course she's totally convinced that she's winning this year. I guess every year is like that, huh?" Luka seems to ramble on, clearly relieved in the Protector's answers.

"She said she's preparing some off-world holding chamber or something. As if the world's actually being destroyed this year, for real this time." he continues, emphasizing his final words with a mocking, sarcastic voice.

The Protector doesn't turn from the screens as he answers Olivia, keeping the same level, controlled voice as he speaks.

"There is no surefire way, but often the knights aligned with her will resist condemning her actions."

But at Luka's words, he turns. He looks him over, analyzing the way the Princess is clearly relieved by what he'd been told. After a moment of hearing Luka's sarcastic tone, he seems satisfied by it and sighs softly.

"If she is not killed, it will be the end." He answers after a pause, because there's the bit that Luka shared that caught his attention.

And because Luka spent a non-negligible amount of time conversing with the Wizard.

"Off-world holding chamber in what way?" He asks, turning fully towards him. "What is she planning?"

[Olivia listens to Luka, blinking incredulously.] Is it safe for you to be gossiping with the Wizard?

[Before she can say something else, the Protector makes a question of his own. Olivia is sort of... taken aback that there's something in play that he doesn't know about. She shifts her gaze between one man and the other expectantly, waiting for Luka to explain.]

"Basically what it sounds like." Luka shrugs. "She thinks the world's going to be destroyed this year-- she likened to to a bomb that's set to explode, so she made a duplicate of the island. She called like, a memorial or a tribute or something... to remember it by. I think she wants to put us there."

"She must be growing desperate." He sighs, turning away from Luka again. He waves a hand and the screens display all the places and activities the Wizard has been up to. It shows everyone she's conversed with, every little thing she's done. It's all there.

"She will tell you anything to try to sway you. Do not let her stories convince you that her lies have any merit."

She wants to put us on an island? What, like a Knight zoo?

[She shakes her head, wondering just what it is about this year that makes the Wizard so sure she's going to win. She assumes its whatever the world seems to be doing. She looks at the Protector again, briefly glancing at the screen for a Perception Check™ to see who else the Wizard has spoken with.] Has she done this before? Preserve her... battleground or whatever with other worlds, I mean.

"It seems like a new thing to me. She's acting like there's something different about this year, for sure but... who knows with her. It could just be another tactic."

The screens reveal all the casual interactions with the Wizard that have taken place. It's... almost all the knights, at this point. In various places around the island. If there's someone missing, it's hard to spot them before the screens are gone.

"She has tried many different tactics over the years we've been here." He answers, looking Olivia and Luka over.

"She tried something significant the twelfth year and everyone nearly died because of it."

[After watching the screens, Olivia has to wonder if she's the only one that hasn't talked to the Wizard yet. At first, she'd thought finding the Wizard-drawn Knights would be simple, but if everyone was hanging out with her then everyone was still a suspect! See, this is why she's a criminal and not a detective. Finding answers is hard work.

She nods along to the Protector's words, listening to him but remaining quiet for the moment as she keeps thinking about the Evil Knights situation.]

"Something significant? What, exactly?" Luka tilts his head as he inquires. "Year twelve is a bit before my time."

Olivia might be the only one who hasn't spoken to the Wizard! (There was one other, actually). All the others, if even for a moment, have at least said a single word. Even if some of them had spoken for longer than others.

"Every monster fight was a one-on-one duel. When the knight lost, the princess fought the weakened monster. Only two knights were victorious, she killed the other ten."

That sounds awful. At least all of us are still around so far, huh?

Hopefully it won't come to anything like that.

"We've done good, and the Wizard hasn't pulled anything like that... yet. I don't see us getting that demolished. But even if the rest of us die, at least I know both of us will be fighting until the end."

He gestures to Olivia. Luka doesn't really particularly have great fighting skills, but he can't picture himself dying, of all things. Luka Eutychia does not simply die to some random nobody monster.

"Do not give her reason to be reckless." He says almost sternly, looking to both Olivia and Luka to see if they react to the statement. It sounds as if he's referring to the Wizard as a feral creature that could be provoked.

"I would encourage you to practice killing blows. Give the monsters no opportunity to escape their end." He motions a hand out, bringing his screens back up. The soft whispers of recorded fights against the monsters returns to the background. It's there, but it's like he has the volume set to 2%.

[She's a little surprised that Luka's so confident they'll both make it. She certainly doesn't know what she's doing, but she guesses he probably doesn't know how to not be confident.

She listens to the Protector's advice, a slight frown appearing on her face.] Most of us never really killed anything before coming here, you know?

Are the monsters technically immortal, like you and the Wizard?

"We may appear to share that trait, but our circumstances could not be more different." He answers, not turning from his screens.

"Their time has an end, ours does not." He pauses, then adds: "Though I will be sure hers ends too."

"Care to elaborate on that one, buddy?" Luka says, a look of slight annoyance passing over his face. "Until now, I was under the impression you were both cut from the same cloth, so to speak. What makes you so different, other than your goals?"

"She and I hail from the same place, far from this world. The monsters are a mistake never meant to set foot in the world. They are undying in that they will not die, but they are not immortal and able to live on for all time." He answers, finally turning to look upon the Princess and knight.

"I deny death."

Huh... okay then.

What do you mean... mistake, though? [That sounds Harsh, Protector.]

"Huh? Wait. It sounds like all of you are immortal to me. I'm not seeing the difference."

"When they are killed, they will return for as long as a purpose exists to bring them back. Without that purpose, or if left to age, they will cease to exist." He clarifies, watching them both.

"The purpose they live for is the mistake of wishing for this world's destruction. To lay that wish to rest is to bury them alongside it. They will all share one grave, one dug to save the world."

[She reflects on the Protector's words for a moment.] Are the monsters... inherently evil? All of them? I mean, Knights can be swayed. What about them?

It just seems like... a waste that they all have to die with her.

The Princess' Dream Citadel

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