04 ❀

[princessia]

Who: Elize Lutus and YOU maybe?
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: FS Starlight, at the parks!
When: February 14-20ish?

[VIDEO]

[ The broadcast opens up to show a young girl with fluffy blonde hair, only about eleven or twelve years of age. She's sitting down, out in the park. She has a notebook, a stash of pens, her mage staff, and her doll next to her. ]

...I'm Elize Lutus. Hello. I've been here for about ten months now? I think. If anyone needs help with anything, let me know. I'll do my best.

[ That's mainly directed towards many of the newcomers to the fleet. Then there's an awkward pause. That's not the reason why she's making a video broadcast in the first place. For someone as shy as Elize, she normally dislikes recording herself for the entire public to see. ]

Um... so, I've been learning a lot about other worlds. And Jove has been teaching me how to write in the common tongue! She taught me some Elvish words too. Like falon. That means friend.

[ The reason she decided to record herself is to show off what she has been learning, her achievements, like a proud child. She opens up her notebook, holding it open to the screen. It's lines of sentences written in the common tongue, recognizable to those who come from Thedas. (It looks a bit like this.) Some lines are written in practiced repetition. They're extremely basic sentences like "my name is...", "how are you?", simple greetings, etc.

Everything is written in sparkly, pink gel pen ink that she bought from the station. It's written neatly too, with no smudging. She made sure the ink dried! ]

When I get better, I'm hoping to write a letter entirely in common tongue.

[ She flips the notebook over to look at her own writing. Her shoulders slump in disappointment and her proud expression begins to falter, like there's a moment of disbelief that the letter she writes might not reach. She then looks back up, putting on a brave smile even though her cheeks are red with embarrassment. She'll get this letter delivered, somehow. ]

If... anyone wants to hang out or something, I'm at the park. Or, we can just chat over the communicator. That's fine too.

[ACTION]

[ And as she mentioned in the broadcast, Elize will be in the park. She's laying down on her stomach, being diligent and practicing writing down sentences repeatedly in her notebook. ]

Comments

[princessia]

Oh!

[ Her shoulders tense up. Oops, she got startled for a moment anyway. She was too absorbed with writing all over her notebook.

She looks up. An unfamiliar face, but she offers a smile. She did invite people to come spend time with her after all. ]

Yes, that's me. Hello.

[percolates]

I'm Ciri. I saw your broadcast. [She ventures closer to peer down at that notebook. It's all squiggles to her. Just as Elize's little show of Elvish was different than what she's familiar with, she imagines there must be dozens of versions of common, too.]

You're a very studious little one, practicing this all on your own.

[princessia]

[ She sits up, cross-legged and sets the notebook on her lap. Writing in the Rieze Maxian alphabet was the only language she knew of until recently. ]

Well, I have to practice really hard if I want to write a good letter.

[ A good, legible letter. ]

[percolates]

[Now that there's room, she sits next to her. It doesn't seem like writing letters would be a worthwhile pastime for someone in space.]

A letter? To the friend that's been teaching you?

[princessia]

[ A head shake. ]

No. To someone who went away.

[ Now she's turning red again. She knows how silly it must sound, but she doesn't want to lose hope that she might find a way to get her letter delivered. ]

I-I don't know how I'll get it to him yet, but I'll... figure something out.

[percolates]

[She wonders how often people come and go here. Sansa had been upset over a friend leaving, and here was this girl writing letters to someone who had gone.]

I haven't met many people that wish to stay here. Surely someone will figure out how to let us leave, if not send messages. Nothing wrong with keeping your eyes on the prize.

[princessia]

When we figure that out, I hope it's not just leaving to our own worlds.

[ Going to their home worlds is easier, she thinks. Even if they don't figure out how to leave on their own will, she believes everyone returns to their original world eventually. ]

[percolates]

You sound like you want to visit all your friends.

[It's nice to hear someone wanting to traverse worlds because of so simple a thing--friendship. Not power, not escaping something, not to conquer.]

[princessia]

[ Ciri nailed it. All her friends and the man she started to call family, in her case. She looks up, with a small smile. ]

That's right. A lot of the ones I met here, they went away. I miss them so much.

[percolates]

Would you like to know a secret?

[It's not that big of a secret since Ciri's complained about her powers being blocked quite a bit, but it's still not a thing she openly advertises.]

I can travel to different worlds. The augment, or whatever it is that brought us here stops me from doing that currently, but...

If there's some way to undo what's been done, then I could do it again. I might be able to help people visit their loved ones.

[princessia]

You can do that?

[ It's in a loud whisper. Jove had been trying to assure her that she would find a way for them to reunite, but it sounded too risky. Regardless, Elize wanted to search for her own methods as well, even though she doesn't know where to start yet. Now here's someone who sounds like they can easily traverse worlds. It's difficult for her to believe. ]

How do you know something like that? Is it magic?

[percolates]

It's not magic, not exactly. It's just an ability I was born with. [And the cause for a lot of the terrible things in her life, but she need not tell a little girl that.] It's as easy as breathing. I've been to a number of different worlds, and then back home to find my friends. I can take people along with me, too.

[princessia]

[ It still sounds a bit like magic to her... ]

And you can choose whichever world you can go to? You're like a Great Spirit... or a goddess!

[ Great Spirits are probably the closest thing to a god in her world. She's not even sure if there are spirits could traverse worlds though, but it sounds like something a powerful one might do. ]

[percolates]

[Oh, nonono. She's got enough on her shoulders with being a princess.]

What? [She laughs.] No, no. I'm not any of those things. Some can travel between worlds, using magic and portals, but I'm a little different. And the fact that so many people from so many different worlds have ended up here means it's very possible for you to be reunited with your friends.

[princessia]

[ It's just an ability, different from magic. She's not a mage? Alright. She's not going to ask for any further explanation and accept it. ]

I wish I knew what to do to make it happen. I don't even know where to begin.

[percolates]

[Ciri and magic don't mix well.]

Sometimes all you can do is wait. I think you're off to a good start, learning how to write your friend's language. You'll be very impressive.

[princessia]

...yes.

[ That gets her to smile a bit and she sounds confident. She remembers writing to him in Rieze Maxian before. He couldn't read a lick of it. ]

I want to make Daddy proud of me.

[percolates]

Daddy?

[She sounds confused--and she is. Someone from another world, but...?]

Your father at home?

[princessia]

[ That was an accident. Her cheeks flush bright red again. ]

Um... n-no... my parents from my world died when I was very young. I never got to know them.

[ Elize hasn't spoke of him much since he left, but occasionally she lets the title slip out. She can't help it sometimes. She hugs her notebook close to her chest. ]

I found someone that I could call father. We're not blood-related, but he's still family. And then- and then Atroma sent him away. We talked a lot about how I could live with him, back on his world...

[percolates]

I see. [She's more used to parentless children than ones with mothers and fathers. She smiles, tilting her head so that Elize can see it.]

The man I consider to be my father isn't related to me by blood, either. I always seem to find my way back to him. It takes a while, sometimes, but I do. I'd wager it's the same with you and yours.

[princessia]

You have someone like that?

[ Her voice sounds in awe over someone that she can relate to. She is also very noticeably becoming weepy eyed, mostly due to talking about Cullen. If she were in the same broken state of mind as a month ago, she might have broken down quickly. Every little memory of him seemed to make her cry.

But she bites back her tears. She knows she's a strong girl now, but she wants to be even stronger. To make her father even more proud when she sees him again... ]

Yes. I'll definitely find a way back to my father too.

[percolates]

[Ciri nods. She's past the age of tearing up when away from Geralt, but that doesn't mean she doesn't miss him dearly.]

I do. His name is Geralt. I was hoping he'd be here too, somehow, but I was not so fortunate. I'd only just found him again.

[And she'll find him once more.]

Maybe I'll have to find something to do for him as well.

[princessia]

[ Like her and many others. She sometimes felt envious of the ones who showed up, able to find someone from their world. ]

I'm sorry he's not here. Why don't you write a letter to him?

[ She's already shuffling through her papers, searching for a blank page that she can tear out for Ciri. One page has an unused sheet of star stickers tucked inside. ]

[percolates]

That's a brilliant idea.

[Geralt would find it funny, perhaps, rambling letter of Ciri's thoughts. But her thoughts are entirely derailed when she spots the stickers.]

Oh! What's that? There. [She reaches over to point at the spot where the stickers were.] They're pretty.

[princessia]

These? They're called stickers!

[ Rieze Maxia never had anything like it, similar to her gel pens. She was immediately drawn towards them back at the shop and they were a nice affordable price.

She sounds rather excited to show Ciri how they work. ]

See, you peel them off this sheet... [ Peeling off a yellow star sticker she does! Then she places it down on a page of paper. ] And it sticks to anything. It's like a decoration!