The Crown is fairly busy today. People playing at the arcade machines, friends talking over pizza, noises and lights all over the place. Motoki is busy today, running from table to table, taking orders and generally trying to mind the store. Despite how many people are here it isn't enough to really feel crowded, though if one doesn't watch where they're going they may walk into someone.
Fate is here, sitting in a booth on the upper level, sipping a chocolate milkshake while reading a textbook. It's... not the kind of thing one would expect a child to read, something about quantum mechanics and multiverse theory. She alternates between rolling her eyes at some of the (to her) falsifiable theories while also biting her lower lip in an attempt to understand some of the more in-depth concepts.
It'd be impressive if she was actually understanding what she was reading, but from the way her eyes glaze over she isn't really getting it at all.
That text is also probably even more over Rune's head... though she has occasionally offered impressed commentary that Fate is even trying, and probably getting further with it than the princess is.
On the other hand, arcade cabinets somewhat elude her to this day too. Not for lack of interest; she will occasionally lean over to look at one of the ones off in the distance... but her attention often returns to Fate quickly enough.
She has gone with the same sort of milkshake Fate has, trusting her friend's judgement on these sort of things and apparently liking it well enough.
Yet despite the sweet drink, something is on her mind. Eventually, seated on the opposite end of the booth, she voices it: "I've been thinking... I brought you home because I really didn't have any better ideas at the time, but... it has been a while, hasn't it? Did anyone else step up to offer you a place to stay, did you have anywhere to be going...?"
Fate turns the page, sees some diagram about how particles choosing their path in ways that seem to predict the future. Her eyes cross, she closes the book, and pushes it aside.
When Runealy starts bringing up a new topic of conversation, Fate blinks until her eyes are straight again, and then looks up at her sheepishly. "Well, no. If I leave, then it'd just be me and Arf-chan." She looks down at her shake, stirring it slowly with her straw. "I'd be okay if I did that. I was on my own before. If anything I'd have even more freedom, since I wouldn't have to check in with my mother."
Though, she'd also be more vulnerably by herself, but she doesn't mention that.
"I guess... I've stayed because I don't really have any better ideas, either."
"...Still further than I got," Rune now outright admits as the book is put away. Then her focus returns to the topic at hand. "Just the two of you, huh? Tokyo's huge... Virtue would probably have something for you, but I'm not seeing the point in doing that. Wasn't trying to push you out the door, either." Her tone is somewhat reserved, head tilted down slightly to think on things while speaking.
"Actually, I'm fine with you staying as long as you want. What I was thinking about is a few years down the road." Her gaze snaps up, meeting Fate squarely now. "Eventually, we'll have finished what we came here for. Tokyo and Earth will be safe, and we'll be going home. What happens to you two once we do that, well... that has been bothering me a lot, every time I go over it in my head."
Fate smiles as Runealy says that she wasn't trying to push her out of the door. The young girl didn't think they would, but it's nice to be reassured. Then 'a few years down the road' is mentioned and Fate blinks. She hasn't thought that far ahead.
She takes a sip of of her milkshake, hearing the rest of what Runealy says and then pausing a bit before answering.
"I don't... I don't think I want to go back to Midchildia. I don't have anything there to go back to, aside from memories that I'm seriously starting to think aren't really mine."
If anything good came out of her one actual use of the Jewel Seed, it was that particular thing. It forced her to face the fact that things just weren't what they seemed.
"I don't know if I'd want to stay here, either. Maybe I will, but I think I'd miss you if you left."
It's possible Rune isn't quite putting implications together. She might know a little about what Fate just mentioned, but if so it's slipping her mind at the moment. So she just raises an eye, with slight alarm: "'Not your own' memories...? How...? Well, even with that," She's juggling two topics at once now with a slight pause, it seems.
"Where's that leave you? I really don't like the idea of just saying 'bye' and dumping you on whatever Virtue might offer. ...Or even just leaving you, like, a bag of gold and telling you good luck in finding a home with it. Or just giving you the house we have here, for that matter. It'd be really empty then. So if going back doesn't work, if you'd be left alone aside from whatever someone else /might/ do for you once we're gone... mm."
A brief sip of milkshake, then, "That kind of narrows things down some, but I'm not sure how you'd feel about any of the things I personally can do about it."
"I don't know," says Fate with regards to her memories. She doesn't really know how to connect those particular dots, either. Other than the fact that it doesn't make sense. Either way there isn't much for her to say.
"I could handle myself, but I don't think anyone would actually believe that. I think people around me would want to take me in, and sooner or later I'd end up in some kind of foster home or an orphanage or something. Either that, or I'd have to avoid school forever. Maybe someone would find that fun, I don't really like the thought of that."
She glances up to Runealy, leaves something unsaid, and sips her milkshake a bit. Then, she goes ahead and says at least something. "I wouldn't mind going to Waldia. At least then I wouldn't have to hide my magic. I don't think anyone there would treat me like I couldn't handle myself."
"Handle yourself? I have no doubt about that whatsoever. There's a heck of a difference between 'handle yourself' and 'actually doing okay in life' though." Rune pauses to finish more of her drink, then: "We found that out when we were living in basically a house of trash. That's 'handling yourself', but it's awful. And..."
Then she pauses to mentally replay what Fate just said, realizing that something was missed at first blush. "...Huh, you want to go with us? No, nobody would look down on you... last I heard, they were working on some statues of everyone who went to the Shrine that day. You don't get to look down on one of the reasons you're still alive and act like they don't know what they're doing. So if being treated right is what you're looking for...?"
Rune's voice trails, using that as a prompting question.
Fate considers the difference between 'handling herself' and 'actually doing well in life', as Runealy goes over the differences. Truthfully, Fate would turn out alright, but it would be a constant struggle. A struggle that would be unnecessary if someone Fate trusted just acted like the adult. Or some other form of legal guardian.
"I'd like to, if that's okay. If people want to make a statue, well... I guess that's flattering? Holding onto hope is important, and if a statue reminds people that we'll protect them then that's okay." She may not fully grasp just how much attention this would eventually get her, or how overwhelmed a quiet little girl might be by it. Then again, she did get a taste of that when she visited Waldia last time.
"On Midchildia, people would know what I was capable of. I could probably get a job with the TSAB with my level of magic, but I'm not sure that's a good fit for me. It might be different if there were people I was close to there, but that really isn't the case."
A 'taste' that Rune saw too; there was one occasion when she wanted to talk to Fate, only to discover Bardiche's wielder had outright fled the capital to get some form of peace and quiet from grateful crowds... it took some asking around to track Fate down to the lakeside that day.
"Well, I'm glad you've got options at least, but these all sound like different versions of the same thing. 'Thanks, Fate. Bye bye, we will never see you ever again, best of luck out there.'" Her tone of voice shifts to make it clear she's not outright stating this, merely using it as self-rhetoric.
"If you do go with us, we'd still have to figure out where to go from there. I mean... you'd probably have every orphanage on the planet clammoring to take you in, every wealthy merchant or artist or everyone else too, but it'd be a really weird... 'contest' to see where you wind up, I guess." A few slow headshakes. "Not sure that works either."
Fate sticks out her tongue at the thought of people 'contesting' to see who got to adopt her. One one world, a place where no one appreciates her skill, her drive, or her determination. Well, maybe they would, eventually, after nearly a decade. Except she'd still be a nameless orphan.
On the other hand, a world where he skill is appreciated, but there's a chance she'd end up with someone who doesn't appreciate who she is. A famous name, and a powerful mage, but maybe not really a person. Fate had more than enough of that with Precia. Even if no one was as bad as her mother, it still wouldn't be great.
"I guess that doesn't fix anything," says Fate, quietly. She sips on her milkshake, contemplating. When she sets it back down, she looks up at Runealy. "A lot could happen in a few years, but... I can't really depend on something randomly opening up. I can't rely on that happening. If I was going to choose to stay with someone, it'd have to be someone nice, who wouldn't push me to do bad things, and someone I felt like I could trust."
After a moment's pause, she says, "I guess... I kinda feel like I have that, already. I wouldn't want to impose on you, but I wouldn't want to lose that either."
Rune keeps quiet as Fate blanches at certain prospects and thinks through others, staying patient. When Fate lays out her criteria, the princess winces only at mentions of not being pressured to do awful things... she did precisely that with her sworn friends in fairly recent history, after all. That she continually allowed them to back out of things if they felt they were verging on crossing a line is only a modest consolation in that. This twinge of guilt goes unvoiced, but does show on her face.
It nonetheless passes quickly, as Rune starts to respond: "If you're asking to stay with us, then sure, I... ..." Pause.
"...I'm all for it, but I can't actually make that call. Not yet. Queen outranks King, but King outranks Princess. So, I'd... have to ask him about it. He'll probably come up with a good answer, though!" Despite that mid-sentence loss of momentum as she remembers her limitations, some enthusiasm returned by the end.
Fate notices Runealy wincing, and suddenly feels a bit guilty herself. She glances away, breaking eye contact. She remembers, a bit too late, what Runealy felt pushed to do in order to save her world. She even remembers the dark crystal she used that just about killed her. Fate's own story has a lot of interesting parallels, really.
Fate nods at first, since staying with Runealy is probably the best choice, but then she sits back and blinks. "Oh... yeah. I guess you'd have to ask him. Asking to stay with royalty is probably a big deal, isn't it?"
She looks down at her milkshake. It's just about out. She smiles up at Runealy. "Well, I guess that depends on what he says. I can promise to be good, but I don't know how much that affects his decision. What do you think he'd say, if we asked?"
"Well, it's not like we're really going to say no!" Rune speaks with sudden energy in her tone. "And what do you mean, 'promise to be good'? You're already super good! Pretty much right on top of the pile for that one, you know. What do I think he's going to say?"
That's a good question, one that only slightly dims her enthusiasm... but only by virtue of having to think it through, not because her mood is actually lowering. "I'm not sure what exactly he'll say, but think about it. You're part of why I'm standing here, at least twice over." Not just the events at the Shrine, but her intervention when Madison Perry decided to go have some 'fun' with blades comes to the princess' mind. "You're part of why he's still standing. Why his whole world is. I just can't see him saying no. The only thing I can't guess at is exactly how he'd say 'yes', really. What we could do is ask, though. Like... if you prepare a letter and we send it through that little hole-opening of the portal."
She refers to the tiny blue ball of energy hovering in a forest some distance south of Tokyo. It had been big enough for a person to fit through at one point, and on occasion it still flares up to that size... but right now it amounts to a nearly marble-sized glimpse to another world. Sound and objects tiny enough to fit through can still pass, though said sounds are somewhat distorted and 'tiny enough to fit' is very limiting.
Fate lets out an 'Eheh' as Runealy insists that she's been more than good. Well, that's certainly a good reputation to have. She's also a bit reassured, hearing that Runealy wouldn't say no.
As the princess goes over what he might say, Fate tilts her head and listens. Yeah, she did help Runealy a number of times, and also helped save her world. "You've done the same for me, but I guess it does help my case."
Then a mention is made of writing a letter, and Fate blinks. Huuuh. "I guess that makes sense. If the portal isn't open very wide right now, a letter might be the best we could do, and we'd have to wait for a response, too." She wonders if someone would check the other side of the portal, or how long the letter would wait there unattended.
"Still, I'm okay with that. I don't mind. For now, I could still stay around, and help you out with things. I don't think it'd be strategically smart for us to part ways right now, regardless of what he says, and having someone to stay with does help me in a lot of ways."
Least of all, she can at least claim to have an address if asked.
"We're not exactly keeping score on that end," Rune admits when Fate points out there has been some help in return. "And yeah, you're staying here with us for now regardless of what he says. It's not like any of us are tossing you out in the meantime. This is just us figuring out the finer details, you know?"
Then... she turns somewhat flustered. "Strategy doesn't have much to do with it. Sure, it's great to have you on our side, we're definitely better off with you around and the same for you... but you could lose Bardiche forever right now, never get it back ever again, and we'd still be having you around."
Then she elaborates, invoking national symbolism: "I'm thinking with the Heart, not the Shield, on that one!"
Fate nods as Runealy mentions not keeping score. Fate would rather just freely be nice to people without worrying about what people might feel like they owe her, or what she might feel that she owes.
"Right. It'd be a while before we have to worry about this, and..." She lowers her head, grinning a little sheepishly. "I guess I've taken over your safe room, sorry." She was invited to, and she isn't that sorry, but it would still be inconvenient if someone else had to come stay with them for some reason. Or maybe not. They'd work something out.
At the mention of Fate still being welcome even if Bardiche wasn't around, she looks down at the table. She's somber, for a moment, but there's still a smile there. "I am, too. Thinking with my heart I mean. I really do feel safe around you."
"Well, we can get this moving along whenever you'd like. Just takes one letter to him to at least see what he thinks," Rune comments. "And as for the safe room? We can try building another one if we have to, or someone spends a night on the couch while we figure out a solution, or /something./ It's not like we lack for ways to fix that!"
Fate's admission brings a sudden blink, then she mirrors that smile. Rune has no direct words in response to that; her face has to be the answer here, and she's visibly pleased to hear this.
"Well, it shouldn't be too long," says Fate. "I'm not really sure what I'd put in the letter though," she admits. It's not as if she writes a lot of letters to kings about moving in with them.
Fate leans forward and nods. "If you need any help building a new one, I'll be glad to! Maybe I could move furniture or... something! Or... we could arrange something when the time comes. I don't mind sleeping on the couch if it comes to that. I wouldn't want you to feel like you had to turn someone away."
Fate smiles up at Runealy, not really sure what else to say. She absentmindedly pushes the base of the now-empty milkshake glass around. At least until Motoki comes by to ask if she's done with it, to which she replies, "Yeah, thank you!"
After he leaves, Fate props her head up with her arm. "So... how do you think I should start? How do I address a king in a letter?"
"We'll figure it out," Rune isn't immediately committing to details of house expansion because it's not an immediate problem; she too quiets down on these sort of topics anyway to thank Motoki for checking on them...
...Then Rune returns to the question. "Good question. I've never really had to write one to him; I could just walk up and ask, if he wasn't in a trade meeting or something else like that. If he was, I just waited a bit and then asked. A letter, though? Well..."
Her foot taps on the floor softly a few times, then Rune realizes aloud: "...It's not my place to say. It really depends on what /you're/ interested in with this, I think. There's probably going to be some 'back and forth' between you two anyway to get everything figured out, but it would definitely have to start with what you, personally, want."
Fate blinks. Huh. Yeah, a princess would just be able to go up to her father to talk. The kinds of protocols that the average person would have to follow wouldn't necessarily be the kind of thing that a princess would need to know, especially not growing up. Maybe it's not that big of a deal? At the very least, Fate decides, she should be respectful.
As for what Fate would want, she has to really consider that. "I don't know. I think at the least I'd want a place to stay, with people I like and trust. I'm also not going to be a child forever, so not having much in the way of school kinda concerns me. I guess I'd have to think about it."
Adoption does cross her mind, since that'd be pretty normal in just about any other arrangement, but... somehow she doubts that she could be a princess of Waldia. Not in the same way that Runealy is.
"I guess I'd also have to know more about how things work on Waldia. I'd probably need your advice dealing with it, since there's a lot of cultural context I might miss."
"Well, you're going to have a while to figure all that out. It's going to probably be a few years before we head back long-term, and you don't have to get in touch with him right this instant." Rune tries to dial some of the enthusiasm down now, hoping to prevent Fate from feeling any sort uf urgent rush.
"Still, we'll get the idea moving. Maybe he'll come talk to you through the portal hole sometime about it? That's how I speak with him sometimes."
Fate thinks about how long it might take, and how long that they have. "Yeah, it doesn't need to be immediate. We have time. I'm not going to worry too much about it." There is, frankly, too much to figure out if they had to figure it all out at once.
"Yeah, maybe so. I'd be up for talking to him like that if it comes down to it."
The yellow icon on her hand pings, and Fate looks down at it. Then she looks surprised. "Oh! We should probably head home soon." She scoots out of the booth, then turns to extend a hand to Runealy. "Come on! Let's go!"