~~Recap~~
"Ozzy, cool it!" Vitale boomed after appearing out of nowhere directly in their path.
~~~~~~~~~
Fashionably late only to the point of somehow being right on time had never gone out of style for General Vizarrio. As he appeared out of seemingly nowhere himself while they finally had Ozzy in view, just how much they may have been missing about either of them from the start was now the real question at hand. Whatever fray was threatening to ensue was likely not going to happen now.
Nesterio's third in command was typically nowhere to be found during this sort of mayday heyday of a nova going out of check. He liked to stay out of it, or at least so Blaize and the others had always thought up until now. Having Vitale of all people deliberately will himself to materialize exactly where he could obstruct their path with a somewhat literal line in the sand was even more concerning.
The glowing mark on the ground was not something he had done to them often and it marked zelestial business that was well above their pay grade which had never included Ozzy Noiré before that particular moment. Vitale had never bluffed about when they were dealing with a zelestial-type that was way over their heads. Vitale was often the first line of defense when something that was going bad would only get worst if they made the kind of mistakes he figured they might. This was not good and Trixxie did not look like she had seen this coming whatsoever in the slightest.
"No, I've had it with this!" Ozzy bellowed before he threw the small man down onto the ground with a painful thud. "If they ever insult her like that again, I won't even hesitate to explain exactly why their mistress is the one who is actually worthy of their contempt."
When Zory appeared out of nowhere in a clean pair of black sweats, there wasn't even a blur they could register regarding what she did within the next micro-blip of time. In less than a blink of an eye, Ozzy was flat on his back with her standing with just her right foot on his sternum. Her ankles were crossed and her left foot was folded neatly behind the one that was exerting pressure. She frowned in their direction before neatly folding her arms across her chest as well and leering down at her captive with a smug look.
"Hey there, Ozzball." She greeted him with open rapport that bewildered their audience even further. "We have got to stop meeting like this at some point."
"Mari, this world is different!" He pleaded as he clambered to use his various attempts to get a viable grip on her feet or ankles to pry himself free. "You can't let that kind of disrespect fly and expect it not to escalate."
Whatever she was doing to keep her center of gravity out of range of anything he could do to get loose made it all too similar to a kid pawing and wiggling trying to get free from a pin of one very skilled adult. Whatever was between them or wasn't posed no threat to Nesterio's intentions for her and that much was certain. He lit up with more curiosity as everyone but Trixxie and Vitale were growing dark with their own mostly jaded suspicions. Nesterio knew for a fact that this was not some kind of snake that had entered their gardens any more than Ozzy truly ever was. People would assume this other side of her now getting to see the light of day right before their eyes was because she had been spelling Nesterio into acting the way he had been. He knew it wasn't just her pull.
"He's okay, Trixxie." He smiled down at her, but the lack of receiving one in return made it clear that was not whatever Trixxie was clearly growing more worried about.
"Looks far more okay than he should." Vitale jeered. "You should have hit him harder, Mari… That bonehead seems to still think he could take another go."
"Humor me, okay, little guy?" She chuckled down at Ozzy although he was anything but little compared to her. "Name even one person in a five mile radius of us who could really put even a single scratch on me in a fair fight and I'll take your latest hissy fit more seriously than all of the other ones… I'll challenge anyone you think I should be afraid of right here right now… So out with it."
"Mari?" Ozzy heaved, continuing to refuse to settle down despite the way that neither of her feet had shifted yet in the slightest. "Has it not already been made clear enough that none of these people actually care about fighting fair?!"
"Hypocrite much?" Zory sighed at him.
Whatever sordid tale regarding how she even knew him or what he was even referring to made Nesterio's apprehension level spike. If Lady Matilda's outburst earlier in tandem with the faulty attempt at further defamation wasn't already enough to spook Zory like it looked like, there was virtually no telling how much had already happened. The only true captor of the truest and deepest admiration from Nesterio on the spot had likely earned far more dangerous kinds of attention wherever else she had been in their world thus far.
Having to consider the possibility they had already been fending off who knows what from who knows who for who really knows how long with Nesterio not all in the loop was a line Trixxie could not uncross with him. No one else among the Nova Alliance besides Ozzy seemed to genuinely know about any of it besides perhaps Vitale. Regarding Ozzy as at least some kind of protector if not a friend was logical and practical minus their guest of honor clearly being several cuts above the real place Ozzy held on whatever totem pole.
"I'm really sorry, okay, Uncle Nero?" Trixxie tried but he didn't bother to imply he had any intent on accepting that apology even remotely soon.
She hadn't seemed surprised when his favorite comfort food was mentioned either. If Trixxie knew enough to know about whatever this woman knew about the habits that had trickled down form a previous life, she knew enough to know about just how much this woman already meant to him in his current one too. Trixxie was poking around in his head with a penny of her own thought to perhaps seek comfort before she really gave her two cents. He was likely to be beyond furious when he knew more and she was fixing to get a whole dollars worth if she kept at it for much longer.
"Stay out of my head right now." He warned her darkly and he felt her comply in ways he didn't even realize she would be so quick to willingly resort to in the first place.
As mad as he already was, the absence of Trixxie's pull on him made him only start to see red again too all over. Nesterio could tolerate much with her and had certainly been snowed into thinking many things. There was likely little of whatever she knew that she may still deserve to be held accountable for outside of whatever other guidance the famous Lady Ryomari had already offered to her. Trixxie had definitely crossed all sorts of line Ozzy was definitely not a fan of either.
"These people can't be trusted." The rogue one-man circus at Zory's feet heaved out through gritted teeth.
"Ozzy, I get it, buddy, I do." Zory sighed. "But do you…? Do you actually understand what you really just did?"
"I don't care anymore, I really don't." He vowed a she continued to not give up the fight to get loose. "I'm not going to apologize for trying to protect you. You know what these people are capable of, Mari… You shouldn't have come here without a proper escort, you just shouldn't have!"
"Mhm." She hummed without a flicker of fear. "What did I tell you about speaking things into existence?"
The realization dawned on Nesterio that her reaction to his proximity earlier had maybe stemmed from worrying about how a proper escort might have responded in the first place. The additional shift in her comfort level with him encroaching could have easily come from suspecting even if Nesterio didn't react to the comments, Ozzy was definitely about to. If Vitale had mentioned having another go, it was possible this was not the first time nor would it be the last there was a whole lot more to the picture regarding why he was so unhinged.
"Lady Ryomari?" Nesterio managed to choke out.
"Not right now, Nesterio." She commanded and something inside of him jolted at being brushed off. "I'm trying to save him from himself on the bad karma scale… I slipped more than enough of my own security past your security to make certain no one is going to lay a hand on me here, whether I am visibly escorted by a bodyguard or not."
"Yuri's shadow-guards." Gia inferred.
It was only logical as the church and state effect of being named the current Lady Ryomari. Zory's right to have her own say in security would have been permitted.
"Like I said, Gia." Zory noted without bothering to add a colorful layer to her gray tone. "No one you wouldn't have cleared to be here if you knew what was going on came on my nor Trixxie's accord… I can personally guarantee you that Yuri even personally tried to stop this little booger right here from coming in here too red hot but he's a slippery one."
As much as they had been amazed by her profound level of connection to Trixxie, the oaf of a brute literally lying at her feet wasn't known to behave like this over anyone. After seeing how he reacted over even just comments, anyone who was fixing to argue about jurisdiction and purview could now admit to themselves whatever Yuri had done was justified. In the event Ozzy had wound up feeling as though he needed to protect Zory from physical harm, there was not telling what more he would have been capable of.
"Yeah, okay, sure." Ozzy all but growled with a flagrant grade of sarcasm. "Blame me for not warning them why you should not have come and cannot be here… Blame me for jinxing it now all you want too… You're not safe here, Mari… You need to leave… Like now."
As more and more people had approached in response to the kind of energy Zory was pulsing with while holding Ozzy in place, the newest arrivals were all recognizing this scene far too quickly for comfort. It only took one to make the odds of avoiding yet another press fiasco regarding what they were or weren't to each other to set the ball in motion for good next time. The cat that was about to come of the bag could not be put back into one on this scale even for time meddlers.