The midsummer nightmare that was occurring surrounding Zory's anchors still not being on the same page about much of anything anymore was more than her heart could bear. Rather than force a realignment summit the second things had begun to spiral out of control, she had chosen to let the pieces fall where they may. How people tend to behave when they think no one's really watching always tells a lot more about them than anything they'll say about the matter at hand does.
Although there had been no flashes of any cameras earlier when the pseudonym Ozzy used in the underground ground rings came up, Zory knew there was probably many rolling. The odds the foreign press wasn't already having yet another field day was slim. The odds even more of Zory's anchors weren't getting even angrier by the second was slimmer.
All of that daughter of Arin business and Vozylyzy mumbo jumbo was going to cause her a headache as is whether Ozzy had showed up here tonight or not. He had built quite the name for himself in a rather short time through every qualified match he'd accepted. Even his genuinely decent sportsmanship when she forced him to take his first and still only loss had only fired up the media storms further.
"Many of you are owed an explanation." Zory began as she looked out over those who were kneeling before her onto the others who had them encircled. "I would have rather your people got to hear it from Trixxie when she was ready to talk about it, but it seems she's going to stand her ground on not wanting any of you to know how we met… Nor why she's so dead set on blaming herself for things that couldn't possible be her fault in any logical way, shape or form."
"What are you talking about?" Tawney asked restlessly.
"You don't remember me, do you?" Zory posed with a soft laugh as she eyed their high queen with open regard. "I met you when you were just a little girl too… It's rather odd to get to see people technically be older than me in practical terms, but it's par for the course for zelestials like me."
"You're a real zelestial?" Tawney pressed in confusion.
"History is a fickle thing, Titania Junior." Their guest of honor posed in a strange sort of redirect. There were many who had called Tawney that when her parents were stil alive, that said a lot in and of itself. "Once upon a time the term zelestial was simply regarded like more of an adjective than a noun. In all reality, even humans can exhibit zelestial traits under the right circumstances… Subnovas, novas, supernovas, hypernovas, ultranovas, things you never ever heard of in any of your current history books types of novas… The same rule applies."
"You're being serious." Tawney discerned.
It was decided and it was accurate, warranting the need to see just how long she would keep buying what Zory was now selling. Spinning a narrative was one thing, having to try to un-spin it was always far more complicated.
"I have no reason to lie about it." Zory smirked in reply before looking at the ground and then to the sky.
There was plenty of reasons she could keep them in the dark about even the basic level of truth for awhile longer, but Zory wasn't interested in taking up that cause anymore. She personally found no reason to allow her hand to be forced to reveal not just any more, but any less than necessary. Sowing the seeds of change time and time again on her visits was all about to finally get its time in the sun to grow.
"Try not to waste energy on what I do know." Zory said with another smile as many stars in the sky seemed to gain a twinkle they had lost long ago. "I don't know how much any of you know about anchors for certain, but I do need you to understand that Trixxie happens to have potential as a very special kind… She'll draw a similar level of attention to what I do one day if not more… That's why I'm here."
"What?" Her mother quipped. It was not lost on Zory that she had begun to quake at the very mention of it.
"And that reaction is why she keeps quiet." Zory assessed with another schooled expression barring her true intentions from being read all that easily. "For what little it's probably worth, Tawney, I have no intentions of taking her as a starling, let alone returning for her as an anchor… I also did my due diligence as your current proxy in making certain no one will dare to forcibly anchor her either unless they'd like to go through all of mine first… Hence why the moving target on all of your backs was placed on mine instead."
Zory hadn't imagined that would go over all that well, but it certainly could have went over much better. Nesterio was clearly up in arms at that confession. Zory figured he would be more difficult than the others to assuage, but she was also still willing to wager he hadn't quite fully made sense of any of the things he was feeling towards her yet. That didn't stop his normally docile temper from doing a complete flip on its axis for a second time over her tonight.
"You did what?" Nesterio asked in horror.
"You're our current proxy?" Matilda snickered.
It was a far more dangerous kind of bitter than the petty jealousy her newish boyfriend would confuse it for, but Zory knew explaining Matilda's attitude would not help correct it in the slightest. Telling the truth to any actual tangible extent only ever made people like her react in even worse ways.
Matilda's rampant capacity to never bother just reading the room when she was spewing any of her nonsense never failed to amaze Nesterio. He had already had it up to his ears with her weeks ago, he just simply couldn't bring himself to break things off with her before all of this Declaration Day business was over. The new impending clash that was now threatening to boil over was already promising to be the worst fight yet between them. As a seer, Matilda could sense their next fight would be their last which wouldn't help her attitude either.
To everyone's surprise, even Gia was anything but pleased with Matilda's conduct thus far. She was not alone in her anger but she was the first additional member of the Nine Crowns to decide walking on eggshells wasn't helping either.
"Tillie, really?" She spat at her friend. "After everything all of us just witnessed, is that really so hard to imagine?"
"Mari?" Nesterio's called, Zory's eyes finding his once more.
This time was different, her eyes were different, warmer.
"I'm tougher than I look, I promise." She laughed brightly, but it did nothing to ease the way everything inside of him felt like it was screaming. "The next thing that happens should take most of the wrong kinds of attention off all of you for the foreseeable future… More importantly, the next step I'm going to take on your behalf will solidify your safe haven bid."
Knowing it had something to do with her trying to protect more than just Trixxie only made him even more worried.
"Mari, please, I-?" He began only to be cut off.
It was Tawney who stepped up to the plate to run a bit of her own interference on his glaring lack of awareness for the threats that whatever was or wasn't blossoming between him and Zory was incurring publicly. Even with all of that phoenix insanity mostly behind him, the members of the Nine Crowns knew their most popular addition was still not up to speed on everything they had went through before he joined. They had circled the wagons harder and harder around themselves for good reason. Those enemies were still viable threats to him as well as the famous Lady Ryomari. As their proxy, she was guaranteed to have inherited all of the fallout from those who had served in that position before her too.
"You can really make that happen?" Tawney hesitated to even believe the dream they had been chasing their tails over for years could have been realized much sooner with just one phone call. "My father figured it never might."
Maverick Sola was a good king who tried to do just about everything he did for the sake of the kingdoms his daughter had been the one to manage to properly unite. He had left his own children by the wayside at every turn for others that were in need of his attention too. Tawney had never expected the note he left to her about what he foresaw would be possible even by the time Trixxie's own children took the throne.
"I already fessed up to being your proxy." Zory smiled in her direction with a hint of solemness seeping through the happy facade she was projecting. "Whose desk did Mav make you think a lofty little petition like that would never land on eventually, Titania Junior?"
"Lady Ryomari-?" Tawney gushed.
She was doing her best to not let herself get too excited, but she couldn't help it, she just couldn't.
"Mari." Zory cut her off in a way that replaced the sharp spike in Tawney's mood with a sinking feeling.
"Mari?" Their high queen beamed regardless of her rising and completely justified sense of worry.
It was as if some kind of flip had just switched, but no one could get a read on what switch or why. The suspicion she had been masquerading as still enjoying her visit for the most part thus far was looming over Tawney, suffocating her with endless possibilities. All of the power her daughter possessed would officially surpass that of her parents any year now but Tawney was still doubling as a seer and empath in her own rights too.
She couldn't read Zory one bit and Zory knew it. The odds she had let Tawney feel and see the little she had only when it suited her goals here was obvious.
"If the shoe fits, Titania Junior?" Zory told her pointedly to stop her silent spiraling. "Just say yes to the dress, okay?"