[The Norkari Mtns.] Chalet du Sommet Minuit

As Skarlet speaks Silias, Naoki nods slightly, pleased that Skarlet seems to have found someone she enjoys spending time with in that way. She was aware in a general sense that Skarlet has been seeing someone, but hasn’t pried for details- this is the first Naoki has heard of his name.

“Mmh, that’s good to hear. And how do you feel about him? How does he treat you? Well, I hope."

At the end of her sentence, Naoki’s tone drops a bit to become more serious, implying that she’s hoping primarily for Silias’ sake.

“Good, good…” Nodding, Naoki is pleased that Skarlet seems pleased with the current state of those arrangements- if she weren't, something would need to be changed.

“How am I?...” The question catches Naoki off guard; it’s not something she’s often asked.

After spending a few moments to ask herself the same question and come up with an answer, she responds, “I am well enough. I can’t complain. But I am in a strange spot mentally, as I’ve gone and accomplished essentially all of the distinct goals I’ve ever had. So the question has become, what changes would I see fit to make to the world, and what will I do in the coming years? All of the answers I’ve come up with are broad, indistinct, and impossible to work directly toward.”

Sometime later, Empress Naoki and Reese Cresno snap into existence in a large and sparsely decorated room lit only by runic markings glowing in the floor.

“Welcome,” Naoki says, immediately starting for the door, “to Chalet du Sommet Minuit. Gauldish. Loosely, ‘Cottage of the Midnight Mountaintop,’ often referred to only as ‘The Chalet.’ My home, and now also yours.”

Emerging from the arrival room, Naoki leads the way in what, by all appearances, seems to be a grand entry hall, with doors and staircases leading every which way, lit by elegant chandeliers, decorated with all manner of tasteful art. Those sensitive would notice the magic immediately. Powerful and pervasive, everywhere for miles around, in addition to smaller magics confined to individual objects, such as the door across the way that Naoki opens.

Beyond lies a hallway, tall and wide. A single, obnoxiously long carpet runs down the middle. To either side, there are occasional doors, paintings, small tables with trinkets, and comfortable seating. Beginning down the hall, Naoki steps backward to face Reese as she addresses him.

“You may need to establish offices elsewhere, but this will be home. You are of greater import than most, a card I’d like to keep inside my sweater if you would. As I’m sure you can see, a large number of exceedingly robust protections are in place here. More so than The Citadel, more so than any other location on this plane, as far as I’m aware. The only places safer are beyond this world. Here I feel comfortable.”

So much may be evident in the form of small differences in her behavior. Within The Citadel, there are appearances to maintain, eyes everywhere. Her gait down the hall is less precise, her shoulders sag slightly, and her arms move as she walks.

“Hmph.”

“As an aside, I note you’re the first person to refer to me as ‘Madame’ in.. perhaps, maybe a year. Though I don’t mind in the least, you needn’t whatsoever address me formally in private. You're above that. I suspect it's a habit of yours, though." She moves one finger with each word, waving all her left side. "I suppose, that means, that I've just made a formality out of talking about formality."

“In any case, Large portions of the house are empty. Partially to accommodate more residents, such as yourself, and partly because we ran out of ideas. My majordomo manages such things, I’ll have them offer you a full tour and a map later - probably won't need the map.”

“I tell you this because the rooms you’ll be using are essentially empty; there’s no reason for me to lead you there. Instead, we will sit” she says, timing perfectly with the opening of one particularly important-looking door, “...in the library.”

And what a library it is. With a wave of her hand, Naoki presents the library to Reese, as seeking his approval.

Grown from the burgeoning collection of books behind her desk in The Midnight Sun, it seems as if she's has collected some thousands of books to stock the library. The library may be remarkable in the sense of how airy may feel. Many libraries make use of high towering bookcases - all very close together to fit as many books as possible. In contrast, the Chalet's shelves are short, appropriate for bending and perhaps sitting upon.

Which is to say, The Lady cannot be bothered to use a stool or goodness forbid, a ladder. Either that or perhaps it was built with smaller people in mind.

What is not underdone is the fireplace. In the center of the room, it stands freely, a focal point for the rest of the library. It has big, tall-backed chairs placed all around it, fit for intense lounging, contemplation, or perhaps storytelling, complete with footrests. Small tables and other chairs are scattered about, with a ring of carpets around the center. The Chalet was, after all, engineered with maximum coziness in mind. Within the course of a few moments Naoki is seated, her overcoat slung over the back of the chair.

The fire crackles in the silence, popping for their amusement. “Where should I begin?”

Naoki's head turns, she looks at Reese. Stares at him for a moment. As the fire crackles loudly in the silence, she sees its flames reflected in the polish on his skull. For a moment she steps back to look at everything from an objective point of view. She’s sitting here in front of the fire with this animated skeleton as if he’s an old friend of hers. He doesn’t have a face.

The joke then is, she is, and it’s true - and it’s happening right now. The absurdity of it all strikes her, and Naoki huffs a single snort of amusement.

“An excellent idea,” she says with a hint of sarcasm. “It may, then, be best for me to tell you first of my efforts as they've related to the state, and the state of the state, as it were.”

“Such things are perhaps of the greatest import, depending on what you value in information most. From the aspect of the historian, indeed, I would think. I’ve done an awful lot in these few years, and how I did it is - if I might say so, somewhat exceptional. But I digress- I’ll then go back and give detail after I establish this core for my story.”

With that having been said, Naoki pauses to collect her thoughts. Reaching into her pouch, Naoki pulls out a small handful of gemstones, each about the size of her thumb nail. She sets all but one on the arm of the chair and begins to idly play with the other one, as is her habit.

In such a manner, she begins. “I’ll start at that point, years ago, when I had first decided to go secure for myself a seat on The Assembly when I began to gather ‘power’ for the first time.”

With “power,” Naoki motions quotation marks in the air with her fingers, stressing the word.

“And that was a trivial matter, as it turned out. A few months following, I set my sights on a higher position, following Grandma’s appointment as ‘Minister for the Defense’ or whatever it was. You ought to remember as much as this…”

“And I went, and the visit to The Citadel for that- to get that position was interesting enough - though it lacks details significant to the narrative I’m laying out. Let it suffice to say that I walked out of The Citadel that day as Isra’s treasurer.”

“That,” she says, brandishing one finger, “Was really what started me off, that position. It was more than just a foothold; I used that influence in everything, moving forward; and I still do. It’s where histories of me will start, I think. The Sun… The Sun will be a tertiary detail, even though it seems so significant as the metaphorical foundation of my life today.”

She pauses again, staring blankly off into the fire. There's much to think about there, about The Midnight Sun, and path she's struck from there to here.

After a moment she continues, “But it was the purse strings, Reese, is what I had. They have more sway over things than the driving reins, and I saw as much firsthand. ... You’ll recall, ‘He who holds the purse strings, rules the house, the nation, the world.’” She says this in a faithful imitation of Reese's voice, as it was he that spoke those words in the context of a discussion on history.

A pause. “That’s truer than anything. All of the things I’ve taken away from my studies - that fact is perhaps the truest- if there is such a thing. … My favor became the most important sort of favor. From my appointment as Treasurer to election as Lady, it was a more or less linear progression. It was just a matter of growing influence - and that's been the easiest part. It’s been my legwork, so to speak…”

Trailing off, Naoki continues over the course of the next few hours to relate her story to Reese. She never does get around to going back to fill in detail as she alluded to because the direction of her “strokes” is nowhere near clear enough to be filled in around. She rambles and rambles, making progress very slowly, digressing into all manner of potentially interesting secondary topics along the way. Whether or not Reese finds the topics interesting, Naoki doesn’t seem to be putting much thought into. She’s careful to mention everything significant- everything he needs to have a full enough understanding but shines her own little lights on many details Reese wouldn’t ever inquire about.

Somewhere along the way, a well dressed young lady comes in with a mug of hot chocolate. Naoki takes it, smiling and thanking the woman, and the woman gives Reese a respectful nod to the effect of, “You can’t drink and we both know it, but if you did, I would have brought you something - the intention is there.” An intention she hopes he would understand, one that she presumes he's seen before.

After a time, Naoki reaches a natural stopping point- just after telling him about her most recent move: declaring Isra an Empire and herself an Empress.

“And so ends what I feel you’ve missed. Everything else I have to tell you is relevant to this moment- to today, and tomorrow...” She trails off, allowing Reese a word in.

Naoki scoffs good-naturedly, chuckles, and smiles. His swings at humor are, in a way, endearing. And when did he become such a flatterer?

“If there were anyone better, I would have hired them already. You occupy a niche, Reese, of impeccable quality. You do so very well. There are others who practice your skills, yes, but you are irreplaceable and without peer, as far as I’m concerned. I am, as I always have been, honored, incredibly fortunate to have you around. I’m very pleased that you’re back, and I’ll have the opportunity to work with you again.”

Naoki pauses for a moment. Her earring glows slightly- she’s speaking telepathically to someone. Reese might notice it is not the same earring he made for her years previously.

“But I’m not quite finished with you yet. If I might, I’d like to speak about what I’d like you to do.”

“Firstly, I would like to ask for a number of accessories. I’ll provide you with a written list tomorrow, but among my requests, I would like a new earring, replacements for many of my spell-gems, and some manner of channeling aid that I might use to cast them better.” She counts on her fingers as she goes, one, two, three, four.

“Once your study and workshop or however are set up, I expect you’ll resume your crafting. I think that you’ll appreciate working with effectively limitless pockets. Anything that was once prohibitively expensive, or unobtainable by the Sun’s staff - all of it is doable. You’ll be able to work on as large of a scale as you like, with the very best tools and materials, whatever they may be.”

“You can see, as well, I’ve amassed a vast collection of reading material, and I think you’ll find much of it to be of interest; there are all sorts of spell books, grimoires, and codexes that are beyond me, beyond my knowledge to understand. In addition to this library and the one in the Citadel, there’s the new public library, though there isn’t anything much there that isn’t also here. And I keep the most valuable and dangerous books sealed away. I’ll show you where they are later.”

Then, the door opens. A page enters, one of the young and mostly oblivious ones. In his hands, he holds a wooden cube, polished to a flawless finish. A cube, and not a box, because there doesn’t seem to be any hinge, handle, nor does it seem as if there’s supposed to be.

Naoki beckons him over, and the page comes. He hands her the cube, and she thanks him. He then offers a needlessly formal bow before turning to exit. Only once the door is closed behind him and they are alone again does Naoki turn her attention to the cube. She sets it on her lap and studies it for a moment before turning it so that another one of its seemingly featureless sides is facing up. Placing her hand atop it, Naoki spreads her fingers and closes her eyes, seemingly concentrated.

A moment passes, and then another. Something begins to rise out of the box under her hand - into her hand. Pulling her hand away, Naoki now holds a gemstone, a sapphire of considerable size. It's the first time she’s seen it, so Naoki pauses for a moment to have a look at it. It’s nothing more than what she expected, she supposes. A blue gemstone about as large as her fist, finely cut. Though she’s unable to sense as much, she knows that there’s incredible power within, far beyond everything contemporary, far beyond any gem Reese has dealt with. Likely.

Extending her arm, Naoki offers it to Reese, such that he might have a look of his own. “Do you know what this is?” she asks.

“This, my friend, is one of the Gems of Croeria. One of four. This one has elemental properties related to water and is aptly colored as such. The other three represent fire, earth, and air. Grandma acquired this one on my behalf from the dragon Jarkoopi, who I think you’ll remember. He had been guarding it for however long since whatever party decided to hide the gems. Grandma arbitrated a contract between he and I, wherein he was made to acquiesce to my terms under the implied threat of force. He got his war crimes cleared, though, so I suppose it wasn’t a bad trade for him.” Naoki shrugs. The dragon isn't of much importance to her anymore.

“We currently possess - you may be surprised to hear, three out of the four. We acquired the fire Gem from Goraia, who had taken it from Sakand, who in turn had taken it from its hiding place years ago. And the earth Gem is currently over at Castle Hylon, hidden and locked away. Camilla reobtained it following some manner of magical shenanigans I don’t have a full understanding of. We effectively have possession of it, though. Just a matter of taking it.”

“And having those three is certainly nice. In the same way that The Kami is nice, as insurance of the heavy-hitting, vaporize-the-problem variety. Grandma and I did a bit of testing to see what sort of output they’re capable of, and the answer, in short, is that they’re monstrously powerful - though that’s probably apparent to you. Even so, both she and I were surprised, as we had underestimated them.”

“But,” Naoki says, tilting her head a bit to the side and smirking at Reese, “You know that I’m not one to stop before the job is done. To be very frank for just a moment, I intend to acquire the fourth one as well. The air Gem. I’ve heard it said that the whole collection functions as more than the sum of its parts, and that’s power… I wouldn’t mind possessing.” She shrugs facetiously, grinning.

“However, the whereabouts of the fourth gem is, as far as I’m aware, entirely unknown. I have a few guesses, but none plausible enough to take action on. This part here is where you come in. As your first major project, I would like to enlist your assistance in locating the fourth gem. I figure, if there’s anyone who can do it, it must be you.”

A brief pause, then she continues, “And I have a few ideas about how we might go about it. Namely, I believe you told me at one point about a particular sort of ritual which is essentially magical triangulation. Wherein we might use the three Gems we have to locate the fourth, with the massive beams of light and such. I’d like your thoughts.”

“Excellent,” she says, nodding. This matter has been up in the air for a while, and, as she suspected, Reese is fully capable of handling it.

“How soon?” she continues. “I would like to give you all appropriate time to move, settle in, reacquaint yourself, and such, but I would also like this done as soon as possible.”

“As I see it, to proceed, we would need only a few things. You would need to make the necessary preparations for whatever ritual, study the gems, acquire materials or whatever else. If you give me a list, I will happily obtain whatever it is you require - for this, or generally speaking. Additionally, I would like a means to channel the powers of one or more of these gems we have. Once we have all four, I should like a proper and elegant way to use them - and I have some ideas about that, but I would feel much safer venturing out with even a crude channeling mechanism.”

“I suspect that we won’t be unchallenged,” she adds. Her tone of voice may seem strange, in that she doesn’t look particularly worried, per se. Why would she be, after all?

She should be worried because the ritual will likely draw the attention of some very powerful sorts, who may wish to take the air gem for themselves or steal one of the others while they’re not locked in a vault. And, in a way, she is a bit apprehensive, but she has no reason to suspect that there is any force capable of going toe-to-toe with her combined and prepared forces. A touch of arrogance, perhaps.

Naoki shakes her head. “No,” she says, smiling pleasantly.

“If all goes as I might like it to, no one will know what I’m doing until it’s done. However, the ritual will, as I understand, not be exceedingly subtle, and there is no shortage of foolishness in this world. As such, I intend to prepare for the worst and end up handily dispatching any troubles that may arise.”

Her voice takes on a graver tone, “This potential battle will be the last we should ever need to worry about, so I’m pulling out the majority of the stops.”