Fantasy AUs

[nerdietalk]

Comments

[hououji]

That can’t be right. [ Fuu’s expression is baffled. ] That’s not… possible. We would remember that…

[ Adora’s confusion. Like. Remember what. ]

[missedorientation]

[Kaori sort of. Waves a hand over Nia's head, to mess with the light.

Ranma tries to focus back on Adora, even if its... really really hard to right now.]

The light... shows where the family bloodline emerges. It guides us to truth. [And for the sake of Adora's sanity, they'll lift up her chin to see her own light.]

[8footswordlady]

[ It’s warm. It feels like a physical manifestation of the love Fuu and Ranma have between them, of the joy and comfort they have in each other’s presence. It feels like the nights Catra spent sleeping between them as a child, like the hugs they gave her, like falling into bed knowing she’s safe with her parents.

Nia… blinks. Not quite getting it. That seems wrong?

Adora was so sure nothing would happen. She’s not sure if she’s relieved or crushed. She takes a moment to watch the light before turning back to Catra to see her reaction. And seeing Nia’s light—]

That… seems like it didn’t work.

[missedorientation]

[Kaori's hand darts back. Her eyes start to well up just after a few seconds of it.]

It, uh... its hard to describe what it feels like. You'd have to touch it yourself...

But why is it...?

Nia. What did the fae say about your family history...?

[lowres]

[ Adora touches it and her whole body… tingles? There’s a part of her that she didn’t realize felt empty that just fills up with it. It’s really weird. ]

I was told my mother abandoned me at the castle. The king took me in and raised me since I was a baby.

[fluidgender]

And they didn't offer... anything more specific than that?

[Kaori sort of raises a hand.] Is there a version of that that'll work in reverse?

[lowres]

[ She shakes her head! ] They didn’t know anything else. They think my mother was human, but my father fae. If she was a Fae she would’ve been more likely to put me in a human family.

[ Fuu considers. ] To try to pinpoint her parents, do you mean? It would likely give the same reading, but…

Unless you had a child with my sister, my lord, I don’t know how something like this could be possible at all.

[fluidgender]

Maybe there's... a branch bloodline we don't know about? Someone from my family runs off, someone from yours runs off... if its not too many generations down, maybe it could offer a false positive?

We could test it on all three of us. And maybe a fourth person too, as a baseline to check.

[lowres]

It should be more specific than that. Unless the lines ran completely parallel to each other with sibling descendants every step of the way… [ Fuu is flipping through the book, trying to figure it out. ] It marked both Adora and Nia, but not Kaori and not you or I, so it couldn’t just be royal blood…

Could you do some sort of scrying? It might be helpful… [ Fortune telling has been a form of magic Sefiro don’t fucc with tbh. ]

[fluidgender]

Its the only other likelihood I can think of... anything else runs into problems right away.

I'd have to talk to one of the old Nerima crones for expertise in that. I'll have a guard summon one right away.

[hououji]

[ Fuu is going to pull ranma aside quietly. ]

Should I… should I try it again? Something has to be wrong. This isn’t possible…

[ Her hands are shaking a little. ]

[fluidgender]

[They take her hands gently.] Let's... take a water break. We'll have a crone on the route and we can try again while we wait.

Maybe its all that blood, its mixing things up.

[Does that make sense? Its something and that's easiest to hold onto.

Kaori is sort of looking between Nia and Adora. This was supposed to make things easier...]

[hououji]

What… what could they have done to us. What else? I don’t understand…

[fluidgender]

There's no guarantee it was something like that. Besides, even if... even under some theory where they could have made us forget having a kid, that couldn't happen to a whole palace with no one noticing.

Not to mention, all the conversations and documents and tests we had with doctors...

[hououji]

I couldn’t—it’s not physically possible for me to have another child after our first. Why would this be reading that way…?

[fluidgender]

We'll figure it out. It'll.. it'll all be explained away. I promise.

[hououji]

[ She… shakes her head. It’s the same kind of movement she made right after she was freed from the Bastille. The kind of moment of a scared little girl.

Adora kinda uncomfortably looks at Catra. ] I think… I may have made it worse.

[fluidgender]

[Kaori's never seen her mom like this and its kind of scary.]

I'll... tell the guard to summon someone... Maybe from both the Cephiro temple and the Nerima experts?

[Ranma nods vaguely, holding Fuu gently.

Which sort of leaves Nia in an odd spot but. Alas.]

[hououji]

[ Nia will slip out. This isn’t something for her to see, she’s sure. Adora almost does, too.

But she caused this discomfort. She has to stay in it. It doesn’t feel right to go.

Fuu is just… so confused. A little broken. Not okay in general. ]

[fluidgender]

[The family'll stick together. Kaori will feel awkward when she realizes Nia snuck away- she was too distracted. Should she... track her down...?

A few bickering old ladies with different texts and scrolls should arrive, although Ranma's not sure how specific to even get. They don't want to spread out any rumors and they aren't sure how careful these two could be...]

[hououji]

[ Fuu pulls herself back together, smiling sweetly at the women. It’s kind of scary how quick the vulnerability vanishes, replaced by the gentle but confident queen. ]

We’ve taken a guest into our home and she’s had some questions about her lineage. Would you be able to help us find her mother?

[fluidgender]

[There's some grumblings- they have a recipe of sports, something to mix together in a clear bowl that would show images of someone's parentage. They bicker briefly about which root works best, but its more apparent that they're mainly only going to offer aid in exchange for some political or financial compensation.

Ranma sighs and starts getting to work on that. This is why they prefer working with Cephiro people...]

[hououji]

What wage do you ask? We never would expect you to work for free.

[fluidgender]

Well, our gardens could use renovations...

Maybe a new seeder...

Better fertilizer...

New library...

A hot spring.

Personal massages.

We'll... see.

[hououji]

I think we can make garden upgrades easily if you can get us correct information.