Princess Maker 1.5: Heart Soldier Senshi

[idolpro]

[ When you insert the key and open the door, you'll find yourself in a humble cottage, in what seems to be the living room specifically. There are several doors, but a specific one catches your eye: simple in its decoration, the door has a cute little wooden plaque with flowers carved into it. Though the door is closed, you can see through it—as if it's somewhat transparent.

A wooden cradle sits in the room beyond, which is otherwise plain. Inside, a baby sleeps peacefully. When she stirs, calling for her parent, you, her nursemaid, are there instead, to cradle her back to sleep. ]

-

[ Slowly, the scene changes, fading in and out with various silent scenes—the baby coos pleasantly, giggling jovially when you (presumably) make faces at her; she tries to pick herself up and falls over, but she does not cry; a disagreement between you and her lead to a thoughtful discussion; the young girl carries a large laundry basket to do chores; she buys a pet dog, looking so proud for having earned the money all by herself; then the wall becomes opaque. ]

[ In the middle of the open doorway, a young girl the age of 11 stands, smiling at you. A stern-looking shepherd dog sits obediently next to her.

This is your little girl. You tried your best to rear her, and she's been good to you. You know she is capable of anything if she puts her mind to it—even becoming a princess. But you also know it's not easy to become a princess—she'll have to work hard, and she's capable of it but she'll need a guiding hand, you know. Better she become a princess than go off to war, though—better that she bear the burden of aristocracy than living a life of loneliness wrapped up in duty like her mother, or losing that life on the battlefield like her father. Whether she actually becomes a princess or not . . . well, that's up to fate, isn't it? Fortunately, when she goes to the Lost Continent, she won't be alone: you, as her longtime caretaker (her third parent, really, or her first, if you consider how her family's left her care entirely to you), may accompany her to her new school. You'll be her ally, her support, her greatest weapon; you'll be the one who determines her success . . . or her failure. ]

[ Of course, you're not the only one that thinks your charge can do it: Joyous Dark Firestorm Starling, one of the Queens of your Kingdom, hand-selected your employer's child. She could not send her own child to the Lost Continent, of course—she has her own inheritance battle to face within the Kingdom and sending her own child out is essentially forfeiting that battle—so she's selected theirs to sponsor. It's because of her that your charge will be able to go at all—in other words, it's your patriotic duty to make sure your charge gets that inheritance. ]

Comments

PERSONAL DILEMMA

[idolpro]

Hey, remember that doctor?

Well, they're super unhappy with you pulling witchcraft on them.

. . . But you haven't heard anything about that, since. Your daughter doesn't seem to be having problems, either.

You're starting to hear a rumor—that the knight's girl is so incredibly charming that she could do anything she wants, and anyone would be fine with it . . .

What, if anything, should you do?

DECISION

[idolpro]

Re: DECISION

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Before they talk to their daughter about this, they ask her if she's been using Charm, and if she has, what for]

Re: DECISION

[idolpro]

Your daughter confesses . . . she used it, firstly, to keep the school doctor from saying anything about your abilities. She didn't want you to get in trouble for trying to help the sick man.

Since then, she's largely used it for altercations. When there's trouble brewing, she'll charm people into getting along. It's not the perfect solution, not always, but it's helped so much.

Is she in the wrong?

Re: DECISION

[crossmyheartandhope]

D.Va and Hurricane sit their daughter down and explain to her, very seriously, that Charm is a very powerful ability. It can be used to do a lot of good, but it should be used very, very sparingly, because it means that people you use it on don't have a say in what you're asking them to do. To that end, it should only be used in very dire circumstances.

They'll explain to Nari how using Charm to free the condemned prisoner, who had been sentenced to die for a crime he was not responsible for, is different from using Charm to automatically convince somebody to see something from your point of view.

To that end they definitely understand why she Charmed the doctor. She’s already seen, firsthand, how people treat others they don’t understand, and they assume she was scared to see her parents called out as Devils. It was a tough call, they’re sure, but probably the best one given the potential storm that could and would have followed.

And though they appreciate how she’s been trying to keep people from getting into fights, because that's a very kind impulse, for situations like that it's better to try and talk to people and convince them to see each other’s points of view without the use of powers. They've been practicing things like that, haven't they? They would be really happy if she could try to go about it that way, with Charm as a reserve for very last ditch scenarios that can't be solved any other way.

Re: DECISION

[idolpro]

Your charge understands that it's a last resort ability, and that she shouldn't use it so excessively—though she's still not certain when it's justified to use it, besides in the most extreme measures, that's just a matter of using her best judgment, isn't it?

She'll hold back on using Charm, from now on.

DISCUSSION

[idolpro]

Re: DISCUSSION

[crossmyheartandhope]

...oh boy.

Re: DISCUSSION

[420blazeit]

Hm. We might have to find a way to dash this rumor.

Re: DISCUSSION

[crossmyheartandhope]

I mean, is it a rumor, though?

Sounds like we better sit her down and explain that that power ain't the kinda thing you use for just anything. It's gotta be life or death.

Re: DISCUSSION

[420blazeit]

[ nods, slow. ] Yeah, that sounds like a better idea. I don't think I've ever used that ability in my right mind. I think I've done it all of twice. [ and once she was high on bees and the other time she was a monster. ]

Re: DISCUSSION

[crossmyheartandhope]

I used it once.

It was... I couldn't think of nothing else to do.

Re: DISCUSSION

[adorabilities]

[can't fuckin' relate]

Uh... people start rumors about things like that?

Re: DISCUSSION

[crossmyheartandhope]

Looks like it.

Guess we better sit her down and give her a talking-to.

Re: DISCUSSION

[adorabilities]

Yeah...

But she wouldn't do anything with that, would she?

Re: DISCUSSION

[crossmyheartandhope]

I mean... there's kinda no saying?

So, if she ain't, she ain't. And if she is, she'll hear what she's gotta hear.

Re: DISCUSSION

[adorabilities]

I don't know. I don't want to assume the worst of her...

Re: DISCUSSION

[polarislight]

Ah.

What did I miss while I was talking to her?

Re: DISCUSSION

[crossmyheartandhope]

Sounds like she picked up that one power we got. Charm.

Re: DISCUSSION

[polarislight]

Ah.

And she's been making good use of it.

I'm almost proud! But she needs to learn to use some discretion.

Re: DISCUSSION

[crossmyheartandhope]

I mean, more than that, I think we gotta sit her down and talk about how using that one's for like. Worst case scenario, life or death kinda thing.

Re: DISCUSSION

[polarislight]

Hm. Do we know what she's been using it for so far?

Re: DISCUSSION

[420blazeit]

We had to charm the doctor to get him to cooperate and now there's a rumor going around about our daughter. I think we're going to have to have another talk about how we shouldn't abuse our powers and they should only be used during dire straights.

Re: DISCUSSION

[polarislight]

[Northstar tries to hide a little smirk but doesn't succeed.]

Yes. Yes, we should teach her to be judicious about these kinds of things.

I'd like to know what she's been using it for before we talk to her.

Re: DISCUSSION

[420blazeit]

Oh, good call. [ fingerguns at northstar. ] I know people think Henshin and Heart Weapon are our strongest abilities, but I honestly think its Charm.