~~Recap~~
The glowing zelestial marks that began to appear in spirals on the left side of Zory's face were incredible to behold granted neither Vitale nor Ozzy had ever showed theirs. The mix of rainbow-esque colors that made up the hues on her were a special array far too many people recognized immediately.
~~~~~~~~~
"Lady Ryomari-!" Many that were not as blissfully ignorant as most of the Nova Alliance began to cry out with gasps and cheers and a new buzz entirely. "Lady Ryomari?!"
She wasn't just irritated now, she was absolutely livid, but not at them. Her pull cranking up to astronomical degrees was going to send mixed signals of feeling invited to approach her, but she really couldn't help it. Never had she ever been angry enough with Ozzy to be genuinely done talking, but this was different. Volo didn't deserve this, not one bit and either did Nesterio or Trixxie or anyone else who still in the midst of trying to have a perfectly imperfect Declaration Day.
"It simply must be!" Someone cried out.
"The new Lady Ryomari is the daughter of Arin?" Another called out. "Surely the rumors about her and Vozylyzy really must be true then… She should have allowed him to escort her, she should have… His behavior makes it obvious why you didn't accept him as a date, but the two of you-!"
"Quiet in the peanut gallery." Ozzy seethed.
"The only nut here is you." Zory fumed in retort.
"Lady Ryomari!" Someone cheered and exclaimed before a cold sort of singular hand in the air from Vitale was clearly not enough to will them into silence.
"Vozylyzy!" Another chimed, a special word of mouth press frenzy was now threatening to ensue.
Anyone who had missed what had already been covered at the beginning of this eventful meet and greet was certainly catching up now. More and more were being drawn into all of the long prophesied tidbits that High Queen Tawney already knew like the back of her hand for mostly personal reasons. She was not afraid as many started to draw closer to see Zory for themselves, but she certainly couldn't get a read on how Nesterio was going to react to her being too crowded.
"Nero?" Tawney tried to get his attention yet again only to be ignored yet again as well. "What do we do?"
"Mari?" Nesterio called to Zory softly through the growing noise that did little to buffer the effect he had on her as well.
When her eyes met his again, everything about the ruckus around them faded away again. He found himself thoroughly pleased with how fast her attention had become his again despite the chaos and smiled without any regard for what his apparent affection would solicit. His heart swelled as it clicked that she hadn't minded him not using an honorific either.
A change in subject. They needed a change in subject, a new something to focus on.
"Mari," He called out to her again and the reserved but present smile she gave him was clearly mostly to his benefit, so he didn't mind trusting her to handle this herself. He lit up like a kid on Christmas all over again without any regard for what acknowledging however he had definitely known her too would bring. "You knew my mother too, didn't you?"
The next smile she offered in a more guarded reply but it didn't reach her eyes as she nodded between scattered glances in various directions. "I'm not allowed to pick favorites, but if I was…? I wouldn't pretend it wasn't her."
Leaving him hanging rather than giving him the name of the mother he'd chose to forget was a pretty fair choice. Isla Ezierzie was probably rolling in her grave while it happened and would also continue to be less than pleased with his latest life choices that followed regarding Matilda.
"Mari?" Vitale prattled as he moved to a take a defensive stance that mirrored the one Ozzy had at her other side.
While no one had moved with any sign of hostility yet, whatever the famous General Noiré was truly capable of was promising more interference wouldn't help. She needed the Nine Crowns to understand they needed to stand down if this did happen to escalate. The people pouring in closer without any fear of how either of the generals at her side reacted was a recipe for disaster as is that couldn't be helped.
"I know they're just curious." She nodded between scattered in assurance Nesterio couldn't bring himself to buy. "They're not going to hurt me, so just let them come, okay?"
Getting her marks to settle on their own took time they definitely no longer had. That was not the reaction Ozzy had aimed at getting from her. He frankly didn't have any idea why she had only gone from madder to madder at him while she wasn't getting half as worked up at anyone else.
"You need to repel them, Mari." Vitale urged as all of Gia's heightened security measures clearly became a wash. "I don't think Ozzy knows how to, it has to come from you."
Implying the little hothead of a nova-type they figured him to be was even bound with enough astral power to need to repel anyone at all from confusing pull was surprising. Of all the things that had happened, even Blaize had never sensed perhaps he really was far more powerful than they thought even long before he took to the rings. He had only gained more power as he learned more there. It was similar to gravity.
"Planet Ozzball to Planet Mars?" Ozzy offered up uneasily. "This much mixed energy is too much for you as well, so just repel them… They'll get over it."
"Mari?" Vitale pressed as the impatience of some began to threaten to turn this into more of a mob than a reception. "I need you to repel them."
"I sort of can't." She breathed softly as she kept smiling and nodding to all of the people who were clearly overjoyed by feeling the full brunt of supernova energy for the first time in decades. They were rushing to get their chance to greet her. "I'm also not going to let Yuri get in the middle of this either. She's even worse than your pal there is when it comes to people feeling blindsided by my pull."
Nothing about that answer had brought Nesterio any more comfort than was warranted at that juncture. Trixxie reactions were his real gauge on how much of a mess this was or wasn't becoming and she looked absolutely terrified now.
"What do you mean you can't?!" Ozzy shot off angrily.
"I really can't, Ozzy." Zory shook her head with a nervous quiver of her lip. "Feel free to write it off as I just won't, but I don't do things I can't do in good conscience, so just let them come, okay…? Better me than Trixxie, right?"
The promise of what power that still pint-sized Luna-Sola would one day hold made it all the more likely that if Zory had enough pull herself as a seer to see this coming? She had only allowed it to happen to avoid the day Trixxie's marks also appeared for the first time having the same level of effect.
"Mari!" Trixxie called out unhappily.
The strange flow in the tides of the crowds that had forced her and Nesterio to fall back at a quite a big distance from Zory were not good at all. He was backing away with Trixxie with every desire to do anything but creating an overwhelming kind of conflicting emotions turning affliction. Zory's latest statement was a clear warning perhaps Ozzy could handle this far better than Trixxie stood the chance of doing.
Despite Nesterio's desire to rush to Zory's side, he knew there was a reason Vitale hadn't allowed the line to dissipate either. He instead had willed whatever kind of barrier spell it really was to spread and thicken too, creating a large circle that the other VIPs and their family members had all promptly proceeded to back away behind. Nesterio hadn't even noticed the origin points of the massive flow of people that lacked any clearance to file in in their stead. The odds that his confusion was born from Vitale meddling with time as well in that telling moment were far too high for comfort.
"What is this?" Gia asked uneasily.
As an entire flurry of people without the proper clearance to be allowed near the guest of honor to begin with poured in through the gaps between the surrounding generals and their guest, Nesterio's jaw clenched. None of these high-ranking officials whether noble or royal or not were used to their space being invaded like this either. Whatever reason Vitale was still making him keep his distance should have been explained in advance if he had already seen this coming as well. If there were more novas among them now that could lose control and turn into some kind of raging pack of protectors at really any second, none of this should have been allowed to fly even by Yuri's usual code of conduct for deploying shadow-guards.
"This is not helping, General Vizarrio." Zory shot at him darkly between continuing to hurriedly exchange greetings and smiles with people. Most were polite enough to withdraw to allow others their own chance to see them up close. "He was calmer with Volo closer."
"Back off!" Ozzy ordered as the next new wave of different people began packing themselves into the mix closer and calling out to her all at once. "I said back off!"
"Ozzy, do not hurt them." Zory order far more firmly.
"Don't hurt him either." Vitale warned.
"Not planning to." Zory scoffed. "That'll be all you."