kingdoms_of_auradon | I gotta know which way to go

The announcement

The King and Queen had discussed everyone's feedback, and working together they made a decision. While the path Mallia found had cleared a far larger area than any other method to date, the fact that it was in the wring direction could not be ignored. While searching for other such paths and areas were on the table, without understanding the way they worked or where they might eventually lead, getting to the people trapped on the Isle had to be the priority.

The announcement went out to all people currently in Auradon to gather for a speech on the steps of the castle. With so small a group it seemed silly to use the balcony, and while the throne room would have also been a traditional choice, they were hardly in a typical situation. They also weren't typical Auradon monarchs.

And so a more informal gathering on the steps. The only nods to their status that were obvious were that they stood at the top of the stairs - with Sylvando to one side like an honor guard a single step down - and that they both wore formal wear. Including their crowns.

For those new, this might be the first time they saw King Ben and Queen Mal as King and Queen. And that bright blue lit from within gem in Mal's crown certainly caught attention.

"Missrecalled of Auradon," King Ben said, addressing them all. "Thank you for being here with us today. We appreciate it, as we appreciate your efforts and patience thus far. After much discussion we have come to a decision. Thanks to Mallia's clever discovery of the path to the museum, we have access to more than we did before. And we agree that we are likelier to have an easier finding another such path than we are pushing through stubbornly to Belle's Harbor. However, we do not know where these new paths will take us, but we do know that there are people on the Isle who need our help, who need us. We cannot leave the situation as it is any longer than absolutely necessary."

"And," Queen Mal said, taking over as smoothly as if they had rehearsed this. Which they might have. "None of us here seem to be afraid of some hard work. So, we're going to make one more concerted push towards Belle's Harbor. From there we can open the bridge to the Isle. One thing we had to adjust to, those of us who came to Auradon from the Isle, is how much stock people here put into believing in their dreams. If we are to believe in the ones we most recently have, there are more people trapped on the Isle than we had at first estimated. The sooner we can reach them, the sooner we can help with the situation they are in. I have lived on the Isle, in better circumstances than the current ones. And even then it was dire. So we will be gathering first thing tomorrow morning to do whatever it takes to make our way to the Auradon side of the bridge."

"Those of you," King Ben picked up the speech, "who need to rest to use whatever abilities might help, please make sure you rest well tonight. Please be aware that once we open the bridge we will not be dropping the barrier completely, but opening an entrance. If you intend to explore the Isle at all, be prepared with whatever supplies you wish to have in hand. As for the journey to the bridge itself from where we left off in our efforts last time... in normal circumstances it would be a short enough car or carriage ride. But we expect it to take a few days of constant work to break through. But as the Queen said, we are willing to put in that work. We hope that you are willing to join us. If you have any questions, please ask. We will remain out here for an hour or so, but then we will also go inside to rest and otherwise prepare."

"In case it needs saying, if you can use magic to help, without harming anyone, that magic will be welcome for this," Queen Mal added. Those who had come to know King Ben well these past few months might possibly be impressed by the control he had over his expression. Just enough there for the really observant to guess that part hadn't been rehearsed, or discussed - but no more.

And with that, the King and Queen moved to sit on the top step, ready to answer questions.

Breaking through

When the King and Queen said that this would be hard work, they hadn't been kidding! How long it would take would depend on how many people were helping, and what they were doing. Of course, some people were asked to help by staying behind and packing up supplies to drop at the Isle, and some people just weren't up to it. Or didn't feel a responsibility to help. The king made it clear, if anyone asked after those who were missing that they were not to be harassed or questioned. He was sure they had their reasons.

All the same, the group was facing a seemingly never ending tangle of fallen trees, crashed cars, tangled fences, and very nearly every other possible once beautiful now broken obstacle. Somehow it didn't actually look like the endless maze of trash it probably actually was...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

missrecalled_mods

OOC sign ups - If your character(s) is(are) going to help out, either on the path or on packing boxes, please tell us who and how! Thank you!

From:

queen_butterfly

Mallia will be doing what she can, but what she can will depend on what Ben and Mal can scrounge up for her to use as MP batteries. The more they can get her, the more she'll be doing on clearing that path, though she's surely going to be taking breaks to go up to the closest rooftop where gathering energy isn't going to hurt anything, and more or less dropping the temp as low as she can, to fill them. She'll still be fine with handing out food and drink; on-demand is less of a drain than putting out those morning-long spreads. Or if someone needs quick help with something she can give in a pinch, sure....

Also fun: if she really tries, maybe she can be enough of a drain on their power grid to cause a brief blackout? XD

Edited to add: she'll be happy to hand out ~~magic energy drinks~~ whatever she can, of the energy she's collected, if someone wants to try using some. She can put it in water, if that's all that's available to store it in, though water can't hold much of it. Non-magic-users aren't going to get a ton out of it aside from something sort of akin to the mental effects of caffeine (wakefulness, help with focus and clarity) that'll wear off after a while, since lbr here, it just won't last indefinitely... but if someone does have magic use, it's basically an MP refill (or possibly temporary overfill?) item. ....Alternately, if someone wants a bit of it on the spot, she could just transfer it directly to them, too....

Edited Date: 2023-10-21 10:21 am (UTC)

From:

phoenixwiz

Harry is going to help in clearing out the path. With the kinetic magic he has gained in Avalon, he can try to lift and move out a couple of the obstacles in the path to the Isle to the best of his ability.

When it comes to fixing stuff, he can try to fix parts of the bridge with the Reparo spell although this option might take out a lot of energy in him if he tries too hard.

From:

under_the_raptors_wings

All of mine would help.

Skisan and Æn'kae both will help with clearing a path. They'll mostly use vulcanoid strength and mechanical know how. I also don't doubt Æn'kae could have horses with a wagon help collect and cart stuff away in bulk. (Also a Targ with a harness to help him with freeing stubborn obstacles)

Rren will help with packing supplies and I suspect Skisan would also help with that when pausing to rest physically at points when others have to sleep. (Sleep who needs sleep, not full Vulcans.)

From:

nadenagi

Okay I probably should post my kids, huh?

Ian is going to stay back to help pack boxes. Someone has to, and they know their strengths and limits.

---

Nadeshiko will be helping with boxes, by which I mean staying up all night to do stuff and leaving a note tagging whoever is next in.

Because... well...

Nagihiko, who claims his sister kept him up all night working on boxes decided to come help with the path clearing instead just to get away from her >.> As with last time he is good at helping to organize in the moment and is strong for a 13 year old, but not superhumanly so.

Except that now his Chara has hatched - though only animals, small children, those who can see magic/souls, and those with Charas themselves can see little Rhythm. However now that he exists, if someone challenges Nagihiko, Nagi will have a temporary boost of strength, speed, and agility.

----

Aqua will be on team path clearing as usual. Between magic and raw strength she is willing to give it her all. Plus she'll happily take items from Mallia so she can do even more >.>

----------

Greg... Super strength and flight are good here. Just watch out if he pushes too hard there might be... consequences. (Would link but shirtlessness in the image >.< Just... comically bad. Pun intended.

-----------

Kyoko will happily help. She works hard and while she'll start out more or less at normal human strength, if someone can tip her over into either fury or pure magical squee they'll see she is actually... insanely strong. Also if she winds up remembering she has a dark familiar from Avalon, her familiar can help some too, though the familiar is... destructive. Things would be destroyed instead of moved.

From:

hotheadwarmheart

Since most of Lea's magic isn't super helpful here, he'll mostly be helping out with manual labor. If anyone or anything requires essentially a human cutting torch though, he's your guy. He does have a metal manipulating power picked up in VT, but it's not really strong enough to be of use clearing debris.

However, at some point he'll think of a clever way of using Keyblade created portals. Namely he'll open up one near where they're working and another 15 feet or so off to one side. Smaller junk that they're clearing can be tossed in the portal, then come out the other end, neatly out of the way.

Edited Date: 2023-10-21 08:04 am (UTC)

From:

commoner_coffee

If this is still open, Haruhi would definitely be trying to help pack boxes. Everyone else seems to have the path pretty much covered, so she'd probably be more helpful with the boxes.

From:

missrecalled_npcs

King Ben and Queen Mal were seated at the top of the steps, willing to answer whatever questions they could.

From:

queen_butterfly

Have one resigned-looking fairy coming right up to them. They're ready to cut to the chase? Well, then so is she.

"Pardon... I can and would love to do more than I have been, but I'll need something, to be able to. Some sort of crystal. Something with a solid structure all the way through, and without too many flaws, for preference. Something large, or multiple smaller ones. Quartz is actually rather ideal. It needn't even be cut or polished." She looked between the two of them. "I can gather a massive amount of power to do the things I do, but I can only hold so much at once directly for long. I've been making do with a handful of beads and a few vials of water, but it's like trying to carry a river in a thimble!"

From:

missrecalled_npcs

Mal pressed her lips together, fighting to remind herself that none of the pain Mallia had caused her had been intentional. It didn't help as much as it should.

"I am sure we have some gemstones lying around I can go through. Though the mines are not near here, we might not have the best selection at the palace available for use. But we should be able to find something. How large a crystal do you need if it is only one?"

From:

queen_butterfly

"Honestly, anything helps. It's like asking after bottles, for drinks. Multiple, all sizes, whatever is available."

She reached... somewhere -- it was difficult to tell where she might've been pulling it out from -- and brought out a small assortment of things, stepping up closer to show them to the pair. A simple little string of crystal beads tied into a loop, probably looted from one of the art rooms, a pair of small bottles she'd found who-knows-where, filled with something that might've been water... but all of the little items had a soft glow to them, not unlike a far more modern glowstick might. "Liquid is unstable; I dare not rely too heavily on it to hold it for long, or for holding much at once, as it tends to let go. Beads like these are lovely, but so very, very small...."

She seemed to think of something and paused as she did, then held one of the little bottles out to Mal, eyeing her. "Can you make use of it as well, I wonder?"

From:

missrecalled_npcs

"I wouldn't know how," Mal said. "But if you can create all these things, can't you just create what you need?"

I gotta know which way to go - Part 1

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