Atlantis

[Bloodedge]

Akashi found this throne... acceptable. That was about all he could call it, but he had the seat of power; the seat he deserved. Interestingly enough, one of the lesser beings approached him directly. He viewed this girl who had such audacity, and with his eye, he was able to see even the slightest, slightest movements. It wasn't fear that compelled her to make such a rash decision. No, it was something else entirely. This was also the one who referred to him in terms that implied a familial relation. Yes, she did actually seem to have a slightly similar Mana to his own.

"..." He had nothing to say. It could almost be said that he respected the fortitude of this person, but he could at least sense the relation to him. With his left forefinger, he beckoned her to his side. He would then choose to shift his attention to Miki, whom he could sense another type of familiarity from. The other Dragon he knew... she was there. Looking to the blonde, Akashi held out his right hand. He didn't beckon her. He simply... waited. "You..."

[Apollymi]

Akashi in his current disposition seemed to be less disagreeable overall. Even so, there was the matter of the tirade which came from the sibling of Kou and Akashi's avatar holder. Miki held her breath for several seconds, no attack came and there was no need to immediately defend the younger sibling of the lad she was partnered with. A sigh of relief even managed to escape the lass in this moment, as Hikari was beckoned toward the lad. The little raccoon girl for all of her talents made her way back to her brother's left hand side content to stand there with the nerve to look baseline satisfied by the reaction. "Damn right!" she said with a curt nod. 'Yare yare, that kid almost gave me a heart attack. Nice to know I won't have to defend her while he's like that...' thought Miki for a moment. 'Probably for the best, now I can go and do what I need...' her thought paused as a single word of addressing was spoken. It seemed after a few moments of being awake, the Dragonoid seemed to recognize Miki as the person who housed the other Dragon. She paused for a moment looking at his outstretched hand.

She wasn't being beckoned, at this point she could at least assume she wouldn't be directly set aflame for making any other movements. As such she moved the pillow she'd been prepping to use as a weapon under her rear and took a seat before his outstretched hand. The small bird Fiona found herself shaking against the back of Miki's neck, she'd almost forgotten about the creature. Almost. She floated up just a bit closer but didn't aim to take it initially. She found herself thinking about the nature of her abilities currently and wondered if she'd be burned. Reaching for the hand of this Dragon would be risky, but would it be worth it to aim to touch him, knowing that she didn't possess the same amount of power she did in her Dragonoid form. Was she about to play chicken even in a form which could be properly damaged by the lad? She condensed the magical energy of the air within her control around her hand and reached for the lad's hand with her own. Her aim to gently brush across the center of his outstretched palm with the tips of her own fingers. And when she touched it, though she wasn't immediately set aflame, it was way too hot for her to hold onto even while concentrating all of her magical resistance on that one hand in particular. "Sou ka... that's about what I thought... you are way too hot for me," she said as she aimed to take back her hand. "Still at least it isn't a fever... I'm glad you're okay." Her words would leave her mouth for the Queen of this land to peek from around a pillar. 'What is this? Kimi is in here being close to an elemental Dragon while not being one herself... is she fucking crazy?!'

[Bloodedge]

He could certainly respect the attitude of the one named Hikari. She had the makings of a Dragon in her indeed. His focus now though, was Miki. The girl approached atop her pillow, aiming to make contact with Akashi's offered hand. She didn't seem quite capable of doing so with her current abilities. How shameful. Either way, Akashi had chosen this one. His burning veil lost its effect as he took the hand that touched his. He would see Miki pulled inward, specifically into his lap as he sat upon the throne. "With me, Tatsuki. We're not finished yet." His tone was flat, but his intentions were certain. He would have this lesser form of the Dragonoid Tatsuki under his protection, until she came to be what he accepted as her true self again. As for the queen of this land, who showed the most concern of all in this room whilst hiding behind a pillar...

"You, Mer. You're not accomplishing anything like that."

[Apollymi]

When Miki tried to pull her hand away from Akashi something strange took place, the lad ended the ability which allowed him a constant burning veil, apparently making the decision to have Miki with him regardless of her ability to defend herself. Instead of mentioning this as a normal being did, he simply pulled the lass into his lap from her pillow. Such an action took place because Miki was far too surprised by it happening to be able to do anything about it. Her entire face became a brilliant shade of red which beamed all the way to her ears as she tried to get herself together and talk herself out of the lad's lap though she wasn't technically uncomfortable there. "Oi oi, I'm not Tatsuki. I'm Miki..." she stated not knowing what to do with her current level of embarrassment. In the meantime the Filolial they'd been keeping fell to the floor in front of Hikari looking left right and left again, between Miki and Akashi trying to figure out what was going on between her parent figures. She wanted to chirp angrily but her ability to look into the situation told her she couldn't simply win an interaction here. Hikari herself seemed utterly shocked by this taking place too, 'What the actual hell!?' the lass mentally questioned her eyes wide, her ears and tail twitching as she reached for the little Filolial to help keep it safe for the time being. 'If he was half that straight forward normally we wouldn't be trying to set him up... Still I suppose even she can't really ignore this being a sign that he likes her,' she thought a bright and devious light in those pinkish eyes of hers.

Beyond all of this, it seemed that Seriri had been found out and called from her spot behind the pillar. Not one to seem too fearful she appeared before her own throne in a very strange turn of events. "Uh, well I can't really accomplish anything to begin with... also Seri-chan desu," she managed which was about what Miki expected from her. She tried her best to gather her own wits. While she did this, Seriri addressed her directly. "Kimi, how do you know him exactly?" she asked, because while the girl's face was red she didn't seem terribly out of place being seated in such a way. That being said, Miki never really seemed out of sorts to start with. "He's my partner... I thought I mentioned. We've been travelling together since level one. What I need to know now is... how the air pods around these different places are being maintained? I need to claim the fragment of the Lich King from the Obelisk among some other things, but... I need to make sure I won't kill every person here while doing it," she said to the girl who tried to be about the business end of this but found Miki's positioning to be strangely accepting given what she knew of the lass. "Partner... huh? Uh, I am keeping them up. Or rather my weapon does. If you need to do anything to the Obelisk you don't have to worry about it having a negative effect here..." she said, finding Miki's choice in descriptor and her current positioning to make the term mean something beyond its original intention. "Do you want me to go with you to the Obelisk?" she asked of the lass, wanting the freedom to properly question the relationship between Miki and Kou. Miki thought about trying to move directly, and figured instead of taking the long route of trying to get up and failing she'd just ask. "Are you going to freak out if I try to leave?" she asked of Akashi, she'd rather not deal with any potential problems, and it wasn't as if she needed to move to claim the piece she was thinking about. Beyond that she'd rather avoid any other embarrassing moments, like the one she'd experienced in the Fairy Forest, which she shook her head trying to clear from her mind as she waited for the lads answer.

[Bloodedge]

Upon being corrected on who the lass was, Akashi did nothing but stare at her in disbelief. He knew what she was, or more specifically, who she was. This 'Miki' was nothing more than a stand-in for the Dragonoid he knew. For the time being, his major issue was with the Mermaid and her surprising lack of a proper presence in this space. "Then you may as well die, right? If you're not going to accomplish anything with your existence no matter what, then..." He paused. If the Mer Queen held the power to keep Atlantis functional, it was perhaps a better idea to keep her around. After all, the Dragonoid had to have a fiefdom. "I suppose you have your uses after all."

Miki expressed a simple desire to retrieve the Artifact from the Atlantean monument. Rather, she wondered aloud if he would react badly to her moving to do so. Again, Akashi had nothing to say. He did, however, rise from the throne. He retained his hold on the blonde, keeping her elevated in his arms even as he moved from the seat of power he'd taken. A single step seemed to be all it took for him to be at the location of the obelisk, where he finally spoke to Miki. "Dragons don't travel by land, Tatsuki."

[Apollymi]

The look Miki received after correcting the Dragonoid about her identity was one of mild shock. She was a bit surprised he didn't understand this, perhaps because he considered Dragon Aspects to be higher level beings. Having been one herself, she understood this a bit, Dragons did have extremely high opinions of themselves, but Miki knew how to compartmentalize, and the Dragon known as Tatsuki was someone who existed because of her work as Miki and not the other way around. In the meantime there was the matter of a threat being uttered to Seriri who seemed to be unsurprised by it, but relieved just the same when the lad changed his mind after finding out that her own weapon was keeping the sunken city habitable. "Hai, it isn't as if I am Queen just because I exist... that wouldn't make any sense," Seriri stated as she watched in disbelief while instead of answering the question posed by Miki, the lad simply stood with the lass still in his arms and left to go where she wanted to. Miki in this instance didn't even get a change to protest this treatment properly. "Hey! I mean...." she started only to disappear from this place with the single movement made by the Dragonoid Akashi. "What the hell is going on there?" she asked aloud. Hikari who'd been watching the entire time in disbelief simply shrugged. "Looks like Nii-san is spoiling her a bit... jeez if he was like this already we wouldn't be trying to hook them up. By the way... what's her deal?" she asked of Miki knowing that the lass knew her outside of this world and she needed some insider information in the brief moments they were alone. "Kimi's deal?" asked Seriri as if she was unaware of what the other lass was talking about.

In the meantime a still very surprised Miki found herself before the Obelisk in the blink of an eye and managed to look surprised. "Well, shit that's pretty surprising and a bit unnerving. Dragons don't want to move like people... fine, I get it. I'm still not Tatsuki, Miki desu." she said rather adamant about the point. "Also, as I was trying to say... You don't really have to carry me, I'm not opposed to walking or anything..." she mentioned finding such doting behavior rather strange as it had been quite a long time since she'd experienced such a thing in so random a fashion. Still she found herself extending a hand towards the monument and feeling the pull of its power. A moment of concentration would have the object she sought within her hands while leaving the monument which stood here whole for the entirety of Atlantis to continue worshiping as they pleased. With this little task taken care of, a sage green glow of mana would emit from the piece while resonating with her person as well. "Yare yare, quiet down... I'm not one of the ones you can influence," she said while staring into the piece which looked a bit like a large square cut gem turned on its side, wrapped in black thorns. What she was talking to wouldn't directly be known but this piece now registered as belonging to her. Her Nexus vision showed her as owning 3/5 such pieces though two of them were not presently in her possession.

[Bloodedge]

With the others gone, Hikari and Seriri decided to have a little chat about the pair. Since Karna remained present as well, he opted to speak up after a rather long silence. "I'm surprised the Dragon didn't blow up Atlantis. Good news though, Dragons follow their instinct enough that maybe Oujo-san will finally get the point from him being obvious."

Meanwhile, Akashi stood before the monument while receiving the verbal will of Miki. He didn't much care if she thought she wasn't Tatsuki. She was, and that was that. More importantly, her apparent preference for walking would not be allowed to pass. "You can't fly. Until you can fly again, I will be your wings."

[Apollymi]

In the midst of the conversation between Seriri and Hikari, Karna inserted himself. He firstly made a joke about the emmient doom of Atlantis and followed it up by commentating about Miki not having any choice but to notice the attentions of a certain Fire Dragon who was presently in her company. "That. That exactly, though it could still backfire, we must consider all options. Especially with him seeming pretty stuck on the Dragon thing..." she said of her brother. She'd personally never seen him behave in such an obvious way, but she'd still rather not take any chances on acquiring a proper older sister figure. "Anyways, back to you Missy. What is her deal? Why doesn't she acknowledge that he likes her and why isn't she more obvious that she likes him? What happened to her? A girl that pretty and that nerdy has a potential partner lined up but she's holding back and we need to figure out, fast..." these were Hikari's words as she gestured with her open hand while holding on to Fiona with her other hand. She didn't now how long the pair would be gone for and she needed an answer immediately to discuss the options.

Seriri looked at the pair of them and thought about the interactions she'd seen so far, between Kou and Miki and then between Miki and the Dragonoid and she realized that if they liked each other such a thing made sense, but fixing them up was no simple matter. If Miki was holding back it was obvious to her why, but she also knew Kimi her entire life and given that she knew the reservations the girl was likely to have. "That's a tough one. Kimi is very honest but also very distant. She doesn't trust people with herself... I was surprised she was traveling with anyone for exactly that reason. She said people she has complete faith in always let her down at the end. So, she'd rather be alone..." she explained of the lass' true personality. "Well that's just weird, she has no reason to assume my nerdy ass brother would do any such thing. He's never let down anyone, and he always does the right things. This I vouch for absolutely!" Hikari mentioned eyes burning so brightly that Seriri couldn't even begin to think the lass was lying. Between Miki's own actions and this girl's faith, she was almost willing to completely devote herself to this particular endeavor. As such she gave more information. "I am sure she didn't actually mean that last part. Kimi wants the things everyone else has, she wants to feel like everyone else does... this is the closest I've seen her to happy in years. Hell, until we met just now she was probably thinking that I'd abandoned her too. She was really surprised I was happy to see her, relieved even. She's conditioned herself for backlash..." she said thinking about it with a hand under her chin. Her father had told her that Kimi had a lot to deal with at home, and Tsuki had realized in her previous life, that Kimi had basically been abandoned by her parents for reasons that Tsuki couldn't understand. Beyond that the girl had developed several strange methods for defending herself from her potential feelings. But for reasons she kept to herself Tsuki would see her best friend happy, even if the girl in question wasn't really trying for herself. "Alright. I'll help out too... while you all are here, I'll do my best to pull Kimi out of her shell," she said with a firm nod. "Though I am still not totally sold on him, I have the entire time you all are here to figure out if he's the right one for all of that..." the mermaid mentioned. She then snapped her fingers calling forth a couple of people to make some arrangements for the duration of their stay here to help out with a couple of situations that might arise. A few whispers later and there was a devious light in her eyes as well.

In the meantime, Miki was soon being told in no uncertain terms she wasn't allowed to walk about. It was strange in the moment, though she generally enjoyed her independence in such times as these but there was something about this lad claiming to want to fill in for what she was missing that left her a little awestruck. It was one of few moments she ever had of open surprise at the words spoken to her, and beyond that her entire expression softened she managed to blush while looking away from the lad very aware of her closeness to him in this moment. "I...ah... well... If you say it like that. It'd be rude to argue..." she murmured. "I retrieved this and left the monument. I'll have Tsuki make someone watch it... it will be good to make sure no one is trying to use it against us. Especially given I am about to turn the world upside down..." she mentioned.

[Bloodedge]

"It could backfire. It could also backfire again and work out fine," Karna added. As far as Karna was concerned, there was more good to be taken from the situation than bad. Of course... he could also see a bit farther into the situation by virtue of his own abilities. "Oujo-san's reservations are obvious, but there are a lot of other things as well. Our resident Geno Killer doesn't let other people in either. This might not be much of a game anymore, but they're both still taking it like one. Geno Killer takes on groups, but there have never been any real connections. Trust me."

Akashi glanced at the face of the blonde, quirking a brow in response to her utterance. "Turn the world upside-down?" he questioned. It was an interesting notion to hear from the lass. Such a clause was one he'd expect from another Dragon, though perhaps it wasn't meant the same way. Either way, he was made curious as to what exactly she could have meant, and he would intensely gaze upon the blonde until he gained clarity.

[Apollymi]

"Dick-sensei, you're here for the man half. We're here for the girl half, insight!" commanded Hikari with an affirmative nod. Of course, it was soon enough Karna who was giving a bit more insight, though it was a bit that was more known to Hikari than it was to Seriri. "Eh, yes, he'll play with other people until they fall behind to need carrying. He doesn't like doing that... he's not looking for people who can't pull their own weight..." she said of her brother as such a thing was almost obvious. "Geno Killer? That guy is Geno Killer!? He's a fucking legend... he's still haunting all of the good arcades. Well, if he's here I suppose that isn't true anymore, though last I heard Kimi was having fun erasing his high scores. Well, she didn't tell me that... but my brother told me about it..." said Seriri. All of this was very interesting, two gamers with similar personalities, obviously avoiding the big step into relationship status. "So make Nii-san forge a connection, get Nee-san to make one as well... and hope they meet in the middle?" this was the only thing that Hikari would come up with.

While plots were being made against this pair, or for them depending on how one wished to look at it, they were busy in a different way. Apparently something about Miki's most recent utterance changed the way the Dragonoid was looking at her. There was something about the intensity of this gaze made her squirm a little bit and the seconds of silence she provided thereafter, seemed to only make this a bit worse for the lass. "Oi... I mean, I made a promise I intend to keep. It requires a complete shift in the way this Kingdom presently works and what I need to do to make that happen is something rather drastic... turning the world upside down... not physically but metaphorically," the lass stated as she averted her gaze. "Eh, actually it sounds a bit boring if I just say it. I'd rather just do it and get it over with at least that part is fun..." she said with a curt nod.

[Bloodedge]

"Tell me about it," Karna said regarding the methods of the one labeled 'Geno Killer' by himself and the gaming community of their home world. He knew too well what it meant to fall into such a category, but instead of addressing that matter directly, he instead honed in on something said by Seriri. "Nani? Did you say she was erasing his scores for fun?" he questioned. When he was taken into this world, such a thing was unheard of. No one had even managed to come close, leaving Geno Killer as the only name appearing in the top 3, 5, 10, even 50 and beyond, of many leaderboards by himself. For one person to finally manage such a thing, and for that person to be someone of potential romantic interest in this case, was... was...

"Now this is just annoying the hell out of me. I'm betting he doesn't even know what was going on. Did she use different names?"

Akashi, in the meantime, received the answer he desired. There was a certain amount of a Dragon's cutthroat nature leaking out of this individual in his arms, and he could almost respect it. Though she showed little power, her boasts showed a level of fortitude he could at least take interest in watching. "Ah. That was the plan. You're clever." With that said, he looked toward the pillow which held the position of Miki's weapon, intending to place her upon it instead of the ground. She could at least be left to her own devices enough to move herself, even if not walking.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Karna and Hikari were familiar with 'Geno Killer' on a personal basis, but Seriri knew Kimi on a personal level as well. And though the pair hadn't spoken at all in quite a while, she was at least able to keep up with the lass' coming and going within the city they lived in. When Karna seemed in disbelief about what Kimi had been up to Seriri just shrugged. "Hai, she apparently took up doing that for fun after her last major break from trying to do co-op. She apparently had a falling out with a bunch of people in GTA Online and went online silent..." she said in an absent way. "And my brother wouldn't lie about it, he said he spotted her wrecking one of the arcades after school," she mentioned. Beyond all of that Kimi's other handle had appeared in a couple of other random online leader boards To Karna's shock she could do nothing but nod. "Yeah, MisakiNeesan, like with the old kanji for fox... not the other one. It was apparently the one she uses when she isn't in a normal mood," she said, having this information allowed her to stalk Kimi's online activity a bit after the girl's Ookimichan account went cold for months. Kimi's alternate handle appeared on top leader boards in quite a few online games, mostly anything that let her play alone and let her have a bit of fun. "Miki-nee was trying to wipe Nii-san's scores... that's bold of her. I have even more respect for her," these were the words of Hikari.

Miki found herself still being a bit abashed but perhaps this wasn't so bad. Soon enough she looked at the lad carrying her, and found herself being placed upon her weapon pillow, though not on the ground. This newfound freedom was about what she wanted out of her life, and even if walking wasn't necessarily an option floating along while she thought things over was good. "Sou ka... arigatou," the blonde managed looking a bit abashed, she was appreciative of his compliment even if she wasn't sure why she'd been given it. Soon enough she was floating along with an intense look on her face as she thought over the start of her plan for economic reform. As she floated along, she took a gander at the things going on in the alleyways and streets between this monument and the palace.

[Bloodedge]

Karna had taken to rubbing the bridge of his nose betwixt his forefinger and thumb. This was becoming one annoyance after another, and quickly. "So... there are two Geno Killers. They're both right out there. They're both obviously interested. Neither of them is doing anything about it. Alright." It could almost be said that Karna was becoming enraged by this knowledge. What he knew now though, was that it would be just about imperative to ensure Geno Killer's Avatar knew about Miki's other online identity.

After releasing the lass, Akashi floated along. In spite of his typical demeanor in this form, he seemed to follow behind her without issue. However, he still seemed skeptical. Perhaps he simply thought to test this individual's merit, as it were. "And how exactly do you intend to make this plan of yours work, Tatsuki?"

[Apollymi]

"Seems like it..." Hikari said. Her understanding of her brother's reasoning behind doing things the way he did, and those random goals presented by Miki seemed to align in a very strange way. It was almost stunning that two people had come to such similar conclusions from different ends. "Still it's weird though, for both of them to be so similar and to have ended up partnered up from level one here..." she said, with a curious look on her face. Knowing the way her brother thought, and finding out Miki was similar, they probably both initially planned to get to a reasonable level and sever their connection when they could both take care of themselves. But at the end of the day, they were still together and struggling to maintain that kind of balance in their relationship. 'Hm, Kimi found someone like her and doesn't want to jinx it... that sounds about right,' Seriri thought to herself, having it become clear over time why the girl she'd grown up with wasn't pursuing what was her apparent love interest.

While Miki moved forward atop her pillow, Akashi was content to float along beside her. She found this strange because she figured she was still well below the level of notice the Dragonoid would normally care about. But there was something extremely comforting about his presence in this moment and she didn't mind him staying at her side in such a way as she headed back to the palace. When asked what she intended to do about the problems as she understood them here, Miki's eyes shifted across the various people she saw moving about. She took in information, as money exchanged hands and people traded items for their money. Even so, there were some very interesting things to be noted of kinds of interactions taking place. This was no normal market place, there wasn't haggling, and the only people who looked happy to be making purchases appeared to be more fish like. The more human people appeared to be, the less they seemed to enjoy the exchange. There were also bunches of listless adults, people who didn't seem to have much but didn't seem weak by any means. "There are quite a few steps. Building an economy from scratch is a bit of a huge undertaking. Also, Miki desu," the lass said stating the very bold thing she intended to do here. "The first thing I need to do, is find out the going rates on cash. How the exchanges work and why some people look so much less pleased by spending than others. After that I need to figure out why there are so many people who aren't working in the middle of what should be prime hours for such things. And then I have to make it possible for proper trade to take place outside of this Kingdom, expand the markets and increase production. After all of that... I have to return the market to the hands of the makers and merchants. To keep it from stagnating... Basically, I have to make sure those who are here to make money are making money, and that it stays flowing and not just in the pockets of certain individuals. Everyone should be eating and everyone should be spending, that will fix the basics and create a working class without the obvious divisions," she mentioned. She didn't know how the politics of people worked but she knew money was a great motivator. People were less inclined to let their prejudices get in the way of their ability to make money and she could very easily persuade them to see things her way. And while they moved forward, Miki compartmentalized, separating each of her potential goals into a different part of her mind to work through each problem towards her greater goal on the way to a stable economy. Much like a flow chart, each piece had to be properly done for the overall picture to work out at the end.

[Bloodedge]

There were far too many serious issues surrounding the idea of pairing these two individuals, but at least two out of the three associates present were fully dedicated to seeing the plan through. The third, Seriri, didn't seem fully sold on the idea, but Karna figured she could be in due time. Indeed though, the spawn point of those two was something of a mystery. "I arrived at the level I was when I played. I can't imagine why they would show up with a restart."

Miki pointed out numerous issues with the exchange taking place in Atlantis. She also took a moment to, again, correct him with her proper name. That wasn't happening. The fix she had in mind seemed functional enough for a kingdom that had become progressive enough, but to Akashi, that wasn't the case. For everyone to spend money and make money was one thing, but that would certainly only further feed into the other major issue of Atlantis. "Your trade system will crumble. Look at the classes of people here. The lesser humans are barely able to exist in this age, because they are weak. They will stay divided so long as there is a difference in ability. Merfolk have no need for human crafts, or human servitude. There will be a civil war even quicker than the one already in progress," he said, closing with a point of realization he had before even taking this Dragonoid form.