~~Recap~~
"How do you know that?" He whispered, clearly taken aback at how that had rolled right off of her tongue.
"Varies by mood, right?" Zory asked with something just shy of jubilance making her even more radiant than before.
"Mari?" Nesterio gulped uneasily.
~~~~~~~~~
There were far too many prying eyes to sort out the depth of whatever still lay lost somewhere in all of his memories he had left behind him in the dust. As the former phoenix king, it wasn't all that uncommon for people he no longer recalled to know more than he took comfort in them knowing while he truly couldn't remember. Given the fact he was always reborn as a carbon copy level clone of himself, many he wished had not recognized him easily-? Did. Enemies he had mistook for friends had been quite common during the beginning of his tenure in the Nova Alliance. While he knew from the bottom of his heart that she did not fit that bill, he also knew he was running the risk of someone who did choosing to target her out of spite for any number of the transgressions he'd been guilty of in his former lives.
Whatever longer story he'd have to pry out of Trixxie with the jaws of life regarding other time meddlers catching wind of whatever they were up to was a serious security threat. Letting the wrong details of how they had met before at any point go public was posing more danger than he could see coming. As one of the longest standing members of the Nova Alliance, he had learned how to keep most of his past off radar early on. If their previous meetings were a sordid tale, this was neither the time nor place to discuss any of it with her. Matilda having already cracked the seal on her history with Leif now seemed like an extra layer of threat as well. He most certainly had no intentions of allowing Matilda to not answer for it either.
"Why is he looking at her like that?" Someone hissed.
"I have no idea." Another hissed in reply.
With great reluctance, he ignored the temptation to shoot a glare in the direction of the chatter. The condemnation with which he would have reflexively done so would have been a dead giveaway for just how attached to this woman he already was regardless of whatever they were or weren't or had or hadn't been once upon a time. It would add even more targets to her back than being a supernova tended to come with all by itself. It wasn't worth it, or so he thought.
"Nesterio-?" Zory started and stopped just as abruptly.
The conversation she was picking up on was among some of the commoners that had flooded into the Grand Central Plaza that surrounded the pavilion. While they had only been granted access to get a better view of the main attraction that was sprung on the Nine Crowns, he could tell their personal views were about to cause some very big problems. There was something strange beginning to stir in certain whispers, dark.
As only a hybrid kind of nova-type himself, he didn't really feel the intent in their words as she could undoubtedly sense from a supernova standpoint, but the way Zory clammed up made it clear it wasn't good. This wasn't normal discomfort or taking a bit of offense to the planned events being upstaged nor his date who was plenty popular among many within her own rights being sideswiped, this was fear masterfully masked.
"Lady Mari?" Nesterio called out softly while trying to pick up on which conversation was upsetting her most.
"Can't he tell she's a recalcitrant?" Another sneered louder with an overt kind of disdain in their tone.
Her mouth had clearly went dry as it opened a shut a few more times. She made not a single sound more than a few sharp and short breaths that signaled her rising anxiety.
"A recalcitrant?" Another among them questioned.
The answer that came was enough to make Nesterio start to see red on multiple levels. "It means that while she may look like a goddess, she's a thoroughly godless woman."
"Excuse me, Nesterio." She nodded before taking a large and telling step backwards from him.
"Mari, wait!" He pled with desperation to not have her bolt off, but she was gone without a trace in a split second.
He didn't need to know much more about who said it or why to feel confident they had made certain she would hear that. Most of their growing audience in close range had fallen completely silent the second he came before her again. There was not a single person under his dominion who would dare to disrespect her out in the open. It was almost guaranteed to be one of Lady Matilda's most loyal subjects. By the time he even whirled to give all of them a piece of his mind once and for all, someone else had already interfered.
Lo and behold, the one who saw red the fastest was none other than the last person on earth that grunt would have even expected to even be in attendance. The biggest threat coming from Ozzy out of nowhere was not at all in line with how he rarely bothered to so much as blink at surly gossips either.
Even when Ozzy was still in good standing with the Nine Crowns, he had never directly lashed out against Matilda's influence so directly. It was indeed General Noiré, who was certainly not dressed for the occasion whatsoever, let alone still behaving at his finest who had now become the real center of attention faster than anyone else could move. There was no joking regarding any or all things Zory.
"Mind your tongues or lose them!" Ozzy roared.
They knew his voice just fine. The delays in the sea parting fast enough among the terrified onlookers for all of the Nine Crowns to make their way over to break it up was a hindrance they could not afford if they wanted to prove Ozzy was not the loose cannon he apparently actually might be. He had the slimy little grunt from among Matilda's many sorely misguided admirers by the collar. Ozzy's build was too lean to be the looming figure of intimidation to most that he definitely was compared to that petite pixy. Before the king he used to serve could even teleport in to issue a call to reason, the last person they expected to step in way faster than they could did.
"Ozzy, cool it!" Vitale boomed after appearing out of nowhere directly in their path.