Fischl: Darkness Falls
It was more then just being sad about something, it was when she felt hopeless or worth less that she had been not the princess she decried herself to be just a small girl who had never had enough friends to make a proper tea party.
Her parents were busy, they always were either with their duties to their work or to the political ministrations they would often keep up with. That did not mean she was unloved, for her parents did truly lover her but as she was a young child and was decreed to be her fathers princess when she fell herself headfirst in the land of books and fiction that she loved so much she would rather be in it then in Teyvat, that when the voice of her father telling her to grow up had hurt her so much.
When your parents who had followed you and had made your imagination had now been the ones to put the knife in it as a child. She could only feel despondent while working through the pain and the next actions for it had been known seemingly ripped away or at least made a mockery by those she felt were her closest people in her life. The girl had not made friends, she had not learned a skill save for practice with her bow, and her parents where the kind to look normal all for the fact that it would be one less thing to worry about in the town square.
Greatness came at risk of the mediocre and while her parents did not seem to understand it now that she had grown into her early teens there was still the chance to keep going and while her parents did not approve of the role-play it was more then that to her, it was how she could express who she was and be the truest vision of herself even if it meant something from a book.
Despite being a fan of the books she did not have friends or did not have a court or a land to be looked at and respected and while she could still feel the hug of her father after the painful phrase or the hug of her mother when they thought they could intervene and she would be a normal daughter, well it did not want her to be a normal daughter. All that she was and all that she could be was to work through the emotional pain. Her mothers embrace felt cold to her after that conversation making it seem as if it was just done to get what they had wanted, and with that the love she felt with her family had waned all for the sake of her title.
She was the living, breathing princess and while the book may talk about the similarities and while the pain or the people that she cared for most could not see it she would be damned for her kingdom to fall in such a manner. Her rage would defend it no matter who did not believe and she would make sure that if people would laugh she would show her fangs as the warrior.
To be the princess meant to have a land she could call home and to be loved by the people in it. It was clear that she had really not had such things but when she put the book away and began to wonder how she can handle herself like a normal being came the caw of the beast she was then so confused. There had not been any open windows in the library and so it had to be something that had been hidden with very little area to do so.
Oz was a great beast and her familiar and with it came the friend and confidant she needed when she was so unsure for herself it had been that the vision had been given and how it manifested. The raven would help her when her flowery prose would be lost by the common parlance. Which had meant she had someone to explain the wishes or points to those that may know the parlance but was still lost.
She had been bright and it was the intelligence that had made the land she claimed to be a princess of. There was nor rule stating the land had to be pointed to on the map or even had to be found in an atlas. Being a princess was something that she had put her code on she had built herself up form it and coming from the library with the new familiar had been enough for her to keep to her path even taking the raven home to her parents where he would introduce himself.
Whether it was being a show of power or being a friend it had been enough that her parents were impressed it had been a sign that her being the so called princess was going to be something that stood as part of who she was and while the pain still echoed she had found her way from the moment in the library that she could defend her causes and her land with the actions that only the Prinzessin der Verurteilung could accept on the path to bigger and better things.
Her parents would dote on her act and the new power she held, and while the doubt resumed it was cast aside for the world was ready for the princess to move to the field itself and being to making moves. Adventurers guild would take her as another body and right after starting she had found an alliance with the knight of the lupical and the luckless explorer and all three them together, she had to admit as things got to the heat of the matter they did feel comfortable with whomever completed their ranks before going off for the missions for the groups they would try to assist all for their own causes.
Being a group of small nobles had left them with more problems then answers but it also meant that if she tried hard she could still push herself
Princesses were known to be haughty and proud and she was, but she was also a damn fine archer by all who had to see upon her work and that made her smile for the Prinzessin der Verurteilung was someone to still have the respect of the people even if she was in her land or not. Her dishes would be the tastiest, her attacks the fiercest, and the effects the mightiest.
Sometimes she would be even asked for specifically to do a job and could do so with great aplomb. If it meant something that her element could be best used on then she would do so with great skill and ferocity often asking for the pair that helped build her alliance.
What was part of the pride had been how the denizens of the cold or of the hydro would bow to the princess for if they did not she would provide them the ample evidence and reason to do so before it became the last bow they would deliver to her title. Many times the traveler wold ask the three of them to deal with the Hypostasis on the mountain of dragon spine and she would deliver the cube to her own judgment, or it would be the Regisvine whose items had been essential for some to get stronger and while it was not for them the trades had been enough to get more materials for their own ascension.
One day, she had wished that her alliance would take to new lands to be the first boots on unknown shores and for their titles to be known through out that land as the new faces from Mondstadt. It meant going to a place beyond the stars or aiming to go the floating ruins that they could see all it had to be was they wanted to be the first group so that when the stories would write about their deeds many years from those moments they could the three of them were all comprised of the honor of knights, the minds of explorers, and the values of the noble.
When no one would look though when there was no pain and when the darkness did not reach out through her mind to try and destroy the shaky girl underneath, she would often talk to her familiar, and in times of need hold the bird to her chest like one would a stuffed animal, although it was rare enough to happen that her alliance had not seen it more then once when she had taken a nasty hit from a Ruin Guard
Seeing the raven fly to her grasp and be held in such a fashion had been sign enough for the pair defending her to get serious and come together. Woozy from the strike and half pale from the loss of blood there was an effort to deal with the flying landing roughly against a bit of bridge that had fallen many years ago catching her and letting her rest with her back against the sturdy stone slab. Trying to focus her sight she could see the pair of knight strike with a fury that seemed out of place, like something had set them off and she could hear Oz's voice ring softly in her ears.
"Hang on Prinsezzin, your alliance is here for you but we need to give them enough time to take care of all threats, please hold on,"
Holding him tighter in response it had been something of a strong shot and as the time went on, dragged on, she was feeling mighty sleepy, maybe if she figured she could take a nap then she could come back stronger. Almost instantly the focus shifted where it almost seemed like Bennett had taken to turning into a big fiery cat and Razor the wolf had been brought out, was everyone bound to animal spirits she wondered as the sights began to get fuzzy.
The next time she had woken up it was in a bed in the medical wing with a set of familiar bodies watching her.
"Oh my dear child how could we let you get injured for the sake of this role play." Her father stated.
It didn't need to be Oz. Were it not for Bennett the growling lupical knight had made it clear that such comments were not a way to get on their good side. Something they did not get though was the pair of swordsman who seemed to be at fault as well and that had caused the spirit to be brought forth and slowly almost as a silent threat his hand reached towards the great sword.
Bennett had been to calm one, to happy one, the man to be the binder of the alliance but it was an insult that had made him look to the pair with a mix of disgust and apathy as his own sword begin to rise slowly out of the hilt. Something had been notified or the sound of metal on metal had at least got the parents to back away slowly staring at the blades before making their exit.
Jean had come in soon after while she was still in bed the pair of knight still with hands on their weapons, it had not taken long either for them to forward their series of events before she had gathered the information from both sides and made a decision, that nothing was to be done.
It was something that had made Fischl smile with a very drained oz resting on the night stand knowing that she had two more knights for her kingdom in the even that darkness were ever to fall.