Happily ever after with a little flavor

[missrecalled_mods]

Sponsors for the ship? So... Sponsor'ship?

Rare had an hour seemed so long on the Isle, or carried so much hope. The King and Queen spoke to all who wished to speak with them, and to Yen Sid. At one point they even opened the barrier enough to go back to the ship where they conferred inside a silence spell with Sylvando. And once more for the King and Queen to return a few minutes later. Then back on the Isle they pulled a few individuals aside once more. Oddly, not those from the Isle this time. Aqua first. Then Lea. Then Æn'kae.

Finally the hour came to an end and the King and Queen called for everyone's attention. Mal stepped forward to address everyone.

"Alright, so here is how this is going to work," she told them without preamble, once she had their attention. The wind pulled at her purple hair, pulling it like a banner behind her. "Here are the terms by which we will take the people we will name to Auradon. Each person will be assigned a sponsor. If you want to change sponsors you may let us know once we are back in Auradon. Your Sponsor will be watching out for you. You need to check in with him, her, or them, regularly. How often that will be will be between you and your sponsor, but the sponsors will report to King Ben and myself. Behave and you'll get to stay in Auradon, and we will let you know when your probation is over and you no longer need to check in with your sponsor. Break the rules of Auradon, hurt anyone, steal.... depending on how bad the act and how many were harmed, we may, with your sponsor decide to give you a warning... or you may wind up back here. This is a chance to prove that the sorting magic was wrong, that you are good people. Or can become good people given the chance." Mal looked and sounded like she was clearly waiting to make her own judgments.

"As I list each name, please go to your sponsor if he, she, or they is here. If not, come stand with the king and I."

She took a deep breath. "Xion, your sponsor is Lea." she pointed to him, suspecting that she didn't actually have to, but it was good to set a pattern.

"Utau, you are with Sylvando, who is on the ship so come join us." Then a bit of a wicked grin. "He's also keeping an eye on Nadeshiko and Nagihiko, why not let him keep an eye on all three of you," she said, knowing she was throwing fuel on an explosion waiting to happen. But she trusted Sylvando to sort out which of the kids actually belonged on the Isle.

"River you are with Æn'ki. Hope you like animals," she said with a grin that wasn't all that softer than her last as she gestured to him.

"Morgana and Emporio, you are with Aqua," she added nodding to the woman with the blue hair. "Of course we understand if any of you want to stay..."

She turned to the Headmaster. Doctor F.... We're aware of you, and your efforts, I assure you. We'll be speaking with those heading to Auradon. But for now, stay where we can see you while the rest of you, those coming with us? You have ten minutes to get your stuff if you have any and say goodbyes to anyone if you want to. Goodbyes with the headmaster will be supervised so we can make sure he is being as good as he claims these days. Alright. Ten minutes, starting now!"


**************************************************

The gathering of belongings and saying of goodbyes was accomplished in the allotted ten minutes without much trouble. Getting everyone onto the boat, then equipped with lifejackets- thankfully the boat's owner was a bit over prepared so there were enough for everyone, if only just-, and reasonably settled for the trip back took a bit longer, however. The boat was a large catamaran, painted mostly in blue and purple pastels. The life jackets however, were the standard safety orange, and so stood out as sharply as they were meant to. The water was still rough so once everyone was equipped, Sylvando advised those unused to boat travel to settle down somewhere until they were in calmer waters.

Getting back to the mainland took time as well, though not quite as much as getting there had, as the tide was in their favor for the return trip. Still, there would be plenty of time for conversation, awkward silences, or angry glaring during the trip. And Sylvando himself wouldn't be adverse to conversation, provided it didn't interfere with the steering of the vessel. Those without their sea legs would also want to be careful walking around, as the boat-while large for a catamaran- wasn't large enough to prevent it from rocking.

Once they'd reached the harbor and the Bibbity Bobber had been secured in her berth, her passengers and crew disembarked and began the trek back up to the school. There seemed to be an inordinate amount of junk that had once been clearly blocking the road before the path to and from the harbor had been cleared. All of it was the sort of things one might expect to find in a modern city- cars, sign boards, fallen trees and lamp posts, etc- but there seemed to be too much of it for the simple vanishing of the populace to account for it all. Very odd.

Once they arrived at the school, they were led past the pretentious sign and statue of King Beast and directed into the lobby. There, they were issued phones and information sheets. On account of everyone being exhausted, no formal welcoming ceremony was planned for that evening, and those staying were directed to the dorms to get showered and settled in. Since that was sure to be a process in itself, Ben, Mal, Sylvando, the other sponsors, and anyone who still had the energy would likely be around for all that as well until everyone got settled. Thankfully the exhaustion had been anticipated, and it was announced that there was soup in the kitchen's refrigerator that had been premade and portioned out and needed only to be reheated for supper at each person's leisure.

The next morning however, proved that Auradon was still Auradon and couldn't really go without some kind of official welcome, as those who came down to the lobby would find a simple but tasty breakfast of muffins, fruit - provided by Malia-, tea, and coffee waiting for them along with the eternally chipper Sylvando, ready to answer any further questions they might have.


****************


Professor Yen Sid and the Headmaster stood and watched the ship through the barrier until they could no longer see it. Then the headmaster, looking bitter, turned on his heel, stalked back to the school, muttering under his breath about needing to speak with someone. He did not say who, but it did not seem like it was likely to be a pleasant conversation.

Yen Sid, on the other hand, turned to those who chose to remain. “Shall we get these supplies in before the humidity destroys them?” he asked, gathering his things into his bag before grabbing it and one of the boxes.

Comments

[elvendryad]

"No... No, you are not. You are trying to convince me that being at the mercy of humans is somehow superior to solving the problems that fall at my feet... that your quite apparent love of having someone else intervene, of clinging to some set of punitive rules, is somehow superior to seeking out the actual issue and fixing it. The bare minimum should not depend on the chance that someone that has come into power over others just so happens not to also be a monster themselves.

"My kind do not steal. My kind do not murder. We need no laws spelled out for us as though we were children... but you insist that your way is superior... because... you are used to it?" He leaned forward slightly, emphasizing his words: "Do. Not. Be so foolish as to think that because my kind had no such ridiculous mess of clearly ineffective formalities, that they were incapable of solving the problems at the root of what your rules are supposedly meant to address. Consider that perhaps we did not have to deal with such issues on a constant basis as the humans do, because we dealt with them fully already. Believing otherwise is like claiming I would not understand how to clean, because you see the area around me without blemish. It does not follow.

"I cannot agree that your way is better, as I look around in this place here and now. Look what your way has wrought. This is punitive. This is vengeful. This is cruelty. This is... these conditions are so poor that my brethren have been reduced to eating other creatures... and for so long that they are not violently ill for it. ...This would never have happened in the first place, were my kin the ones being listened to from the beginning."

He shook his head, adjusting his arms, still folded there across his chest. "I think to some extent, I actually envy you your circumstances. I suspect that your experiences here, in your world, might actually have been favorable enough that you simply cannot comprehend that the humans in positions of power in my world are drawn to depravity and callousness. You clearly believe your own assertions, that your ways are somehow best, as though it applies to me, in my world, as well. That it applies to the humans of mine.

"I suggest you rethink your stance; though you claim you wish to understand, you continue to insist on nonsense. That I am the one who is confused, despite your own lack of acknowledging the contradictions in what you say. Despite the lived experiences of each of us pointing to one society having solved its ills, while the other struggles with providing its people with necessities, its conditions so dysfunctional that its people still do resort to unwanted behaviors to meet their needs." He narrowed his eyes, more pity in the look than annoyance. "I truly hope, for your people's sake, that someday, they may yet catch up to the ways of mine. I hope for their sake, they learn to admit when what they are doing does not work, and accept the assistance of those who have trodden similar paths many thousands of years previously and already found better ways. I hope for their sake, and for yours, that the realization comes that familiar is not always right... that slow, incremental improvement from a position of failure is not superior to having already reached the goal."

[misery_called_npcs]

He listened to this all seriously, before replying. "Your society may have already found better ways, but it does not exist in isolation. You speak as though your people are the mice of the kingdom, who never needed among them a law to say that no person shall eat another. No mouse would, so why should there be a law about it? But the mice do not live in isolation. And where their society clashes with that, of say, a predator, then rules need to be in place. To the Lions of Pride Rock it is understood that there are those who eat plants, and those who eat those who eat plants, and then when all die, all become that which the plants themselves grow strong from. To them what the mice do, taking the milk from another animal and intentionally spoiling it to make cheese is a far greater horror. And again where the societies clash, rules need to be put into place. So too, with you and your humans. Even if that requires a third party from outside to enforce those rules."

"I am not saying that our way is better because it is familiar, but I am saying that your scope is perhaps too small and inwardly focused. Maybe I was hasty in suggesting that human leadership would be the proper third party, and if so I apologize. But the point remains that in the clashing of two cultures, one side or the other, or worse both sides, claiming the moral high ground - claiming the right to punish people of the others indiscriminately, so near as the other side can tell, will only lead to a worsening situation."

[elvendryad]

He paused, his expression somewhere between "trying to make sense of what he's hearing" and "thoroughly amused" for the few seconds it lasted. "Humans have a great many words in their language that we did not... like revenge. That one did not come from us. So I suppose humans have a word, for when one side wants to murder all of the other?

"But yes, I... suppose you are correct. It is certainly a clashing of two cultures, when one wants to kill the other for fun, and for territory and resources, and the other wants to not be murdered. ...That, or you have a very interesting way of phrasing things. But tell me, what other third party could there possibly be, when it is only my kin, and the humans, in my world?"

Either something probably wasn't translating quite right, or he was looking at something differently, to claim only the two kinds, when the lady he'd spoken with earlier and then confirmed knowing didn't either look to be a tree or seem to be human; Chell had called her the wine fairy a bit ago....

[misery_called_npcs]

"Yes, there is such a word, though it is thankfully one rarely spoken. And I'll not tempt the fates by uttering it upon this isle unless needful." No reason to give any of the villains here the idea, after all.

"There are rarely only ever two groups in any space, let alone any conflict. It is just sometimes difficult to see the others. To keep a mind open enough to them. And what of your friend who came to visit afore?"

[elvendryad]

If Yen Sid were watching, he might have seen the subtle movement that gave away his reaction to the confirmation -- though he managed to stay entirely silent, it was a laugh he was trying quite hard not to be obvious about. Not about the comment on declining to say the word in question, but the fact that there was a word for such a particular concept. Of course humans had a word like that. It was horrifying and not at all something that ought to be, but sometimes, a thing was awful enough that it was simply comical.

"...What of her?"

[misery_called_npcs]

"Is her society the exact same as yours? Or separate but similar?"

[elvendryad]

Chell shook his head. "None of fae kind are safe from the human rulers' ill intentions, in my world. Even the elves, which she's modeled her appearance after." There it was, then: he was referring to more than one species as his kind. This was not a straightforward matter of humans versus odd tree-people. This was humans versus... what, all nonhumans that weren't simple animals? "Alker or not, it matters little to the monsters."

[misery_called_npcs]

"Then coming to an accord with them, making peace, seems to me to be more important than it might otherwise. Peace talks and negotiations are a way to force both sides to see the other as people. Continuing hostilities do not serve your side any better than theirs. No one wins in such a situation."

[elvendryad]

He didn't even bother to try hiding the quiet little laugh at that. "Why yes, how could I not have thought of that, in all my centuries? Ah, how foolish I've been; the solution was plain for all to see." But he shook his head, the halfhearted smile fading soon enough; he wasn't going to keep making fun of the guy. But to have suggested that to him, here and now, in the first place? Really? He really couldn't help but find it funny.

"Do you honestly think we haven't tried? Some have attempted diplomacy, others threats. None have seen great success yet, or none for long, to the best of my knowledge. Even our attempts to retreat have failed. The monsters are persistent, and unreasonable. But you may do better to speak with the wine fairy on it at a future date; she is more capable than I, of at least pretending to be human long enough to try conversing with them without arousing suspicion. I would not be surprised if she herself had tried... but if they would put even elven children to death so easily as I have seen, I doubt they would be quite willingly swayed."

[misery_called_npcs]

"Some endeavors are worth trying time and again. But I shall take your advice and speak with her, when opportunity allows. Perhaps she can further illuminate this dim situation."

[elvendryad]

"Perhaps she can," he agreed, "though I suggest you try not to be too surprised when she disagrees with some of your notions similarly. It's not personal. We may not know each other well, but all fae have some things in common, in my world.

"...And so, perhaps she might also explain better, about our kind. I really don't know where to begin...." He didn't quite make a face at that; chances were, he'd be puzzling over how to give a better description of things for a while.

[misery_called_npcs]

"Then I look forward to my conversations with her."