SaDiablo Hall's Library, Kaeleer, Friday Morning [Fandom Time]

[icecoldfrost]

Emma was waiting to leave until Karla was well enough to go with them, and so she was spending time in the library. She'd finally changed back from diamond to flesh this morning, after waiting for the majority of the mental turmoil to subside.

She was currently about midway through a rather large illustrated book on the history of Kaeleer. Emma didn't understand most of it, but she really wasn't reading it that diligently. It was more a way to pass the time than making an actual study of the material.

Jaenelle Angelline	Jaenelle had also sought the quiet of the library to sooth her jangled nerves. She rounded the corner, a novel clutched tightly in her hands, when she spotted Emma. "Oh--I--oh," she said, looking surprised and a bit unsure. "Hi." Look. No one had dreamed about her being a scintillating conversationalist, okay?
Emma Frost	Emma's eyes raised slowly from her page, taking in the intruder. "Lady Angelline," she drawled, letting her worlds roll smoothly from her lips, giving them weight and contemplation. Good. She wanted to talk to the girl. "I do hope I'm not intruding anywhere that I'm not supposed to be."
Jaenelle	"Oh no," Jaenelle replied, shaking her head quickly. "This library is open to all guests. Are you enjoying your book?" She was trying not to sound overly skittish and shy, but Emma was one of Karla's friends that Jaenelle just couldn't get a bead on.
Emma	"I'm finding it informative, if definitely oriented towards those with a basic understanding of the Blood and your politics," Emma responded. "Luckily, a year of dealing with Karla has filled in some of the blanks." The corner of her mouth twitched in what might be a smile at Jaenelle's obvious discomfort. "I don't bite, Lady, unless invited." Liar.
Jaenelle	"Until we met you, we had no idea there were people who didn't have a basic understanding of Blood politics and Protocol," Jaenelle said, with an apologetic shrug. Then she laughed a bit at Emma's comment, taking a seat on the air opposite her. "You sounded like Lucivar there for a moment," she said. "Except that he would, invite or not."
Emma	"That is why Lucivar likes me," Emma replied smugly. "I think he's rather sure I would bite, too, just to spite him."
Jaenelle	"Quite likely," Jaenelle agreed. "Though he'd probably toss you into a horse trough if you did. Because he's spiteful, too."
Emma	"Then if he doesn't do anything that necessitates biting, we'll all be happy," Emma said tranquilly. "Which includes trying to rouse me at unholy hours for that drilling he makes you girls do." Although the first time he did that, Emma was going to go to diamond and kick him. If she'd end up bruised, so would he. Or at least, she'd try to kick him. He was big and had long arms that could probably hold her at a length. "Not that all that training seemed to be of much use to you the other day."
Jaenelle	That comment earned Emma a sharp look. "He hadn't quite gotten around to teaching us the moves for two thousand-to-one odds yet. Perhaps next time."
Emma	"Really? Because it seems like you knew that move pretty well," Emma pointed out.
Jaenelle	Jaenelle pressed her lips together and frowned. "That was hardly among the moves Lucivar taught me," she said, voice tight. "It barely counts as a move at all." It was a swift unleashing of the power at her disposal, more of an eruption than an attack.
Emma	"It was a move to checkmate. I don't care where you learned it, the question is why you bothered with the pawns at all."
Jaenelle	"Because making sure that the people who made it to safety actually survived were a higher priority than stopping the Jhinka," Jaenelle said. "By the time we got to Agio, everyone else was already dead. I wanted to make sure that anyone we could save was."
Emma	Emma shook her head and made a buzzing sound, holding up one finger. "Wrong answer," she stated. "With the Jhinka threat removed, you could have summoned reinforcements, called for more healers, whatever it is you witches do. I will ask again; why did you delay?"
Jaenelle	"The witchstorm prevented us from reaching out to anyone," Jaenelle protested, getting upset and angry in equal measure. She wasn't used to being questioned like that. "I never wanted to kill anyone! Killing is not my road! It's not what I do!"
Emma	"No. What you 'do' is hide from your power under the delusion that doing so will make you normal," Emma retorted. "You think that if you pretend it isn't there, if you do your best to shove it under the bed, people will love you for you, and you won't have to wonder if they really just love you for your power." "Well, Lady, because you have schooled yourself to steer away from using your power, you didn't think, and you didn't explore all your options when you should have."
Jaenelle	"If I do think that, it's only because a few very rare people have ever proven otherwise!" Jaenelle snapped, eyes shifting from summer-sky to a deep, ancient sapphire. "You think that I haven't had to be wary of being used for what I have, even by the people who claim to have my best interests at heart. So don't you scold me for wanting to be normal, when being the most powerful witch in existence has done nothing for me. Nothing!" She glared at Emma, her hair starting to dance around her face. "I was doped to the gills with safframate because someone wanted my power so badly they were willing to force me into marriage and try to rape me into compliance. Forgive me if I wasn't thinking tactically enough to suit you!"
Emma	"You wouldn't be so much of a target if you'd stop hiding in the closet and make a few pointed examples," Emma replied, snarling right back. "Effective doesn't always mean lethal. God, you Blood have one track minds sometimes." Even Emma wasn't that ruthless. Yet. Give her a few years. "I am the only one like me in my world that I know about. If I get found out? It's going to be a very short life tied to a very cold table before the vivisection begins, princess. And you don't see me trying to hide it to make other people more comfortable."
Jaenelle	"That's not the kind of person I am!" Janelle argued. "People already fear me enough as it is. The last thing I want to do is make an example of someone, lethally or not! It's not hiding, I just would rather not give people more reason to fear me." Her chin trembled a bit as she averted her eyes. "I would rather be hurt than hurt someone else. It's not who I am."
Emma	"So you’d rather lie to them? They're going to fear you no matter what, you may as well make sure it's for the right reasons," she said coldly. "But if you don't come to some sort of acceptance of your own power, you're going to hurt a lot more people. If you hadn't been afraid of scaring people, how many more lives could you have saved?" "Or would you rather end up afraid of your own shadow, like Jonothon?" Emma shrugged and picked her book back up. "I didn't particularly enjoy hurting those creatures, or feeling them in my brain, but I used my powers as I feel they were meant to be used; to protect myself and my friends, and I'll do it again in a heartbeat. Does that make me some horrible creature?"
Jaenelle	"There weren't anymore to save in Agio!" Jaenelle cried, desperately latching onto the section of Emma's argument that she actually had a counter for. "By the time we arrived in Agio, everyone was already in the building! And I did save them!" Except Khevin. She hadn't been able to save Khevin. Which was what had caused the rage to boil up out of her anyway, exploding the Jhinka in midair. Whereas, if she'd just put a giant shield around them all like she'd been planning, maybe Khevin would have survived. And so might have the Jhinka. She could argue that she'd been muddled and confused by the safframate, and it would even be partially true. But not completely. Emma had a point--if she'd thought larger and grander about what she'd been capable of doing, maybe the streets of Agio wouldn't be covered in a fine, red mist. Maybe Karla's friends wouldn't flinch when they saw her. "No, you're not a monster," Jaenelle said softly. "But you are kind of a bitch."
Emma	"But I'm the bitch that gets things done," Emma corrected, giving her a sharp smile. "You want to know why I've never been drugged or beaten into compliance? Because they've tried, more than once, but I wasn't afraid to do something to stop it." "You were born with a magnificent gift, Jaenelle. Stop acting like it's a curse, and be astonishing."
Jaenelle	"I spattered my so-called husband across the room," Jaenelle said, eyes flashing. "Don't make it sound like I meekly accepted what they had planned for me."
Emma	"Good. Next time you're faced with certain death, do remember that. You've got a backbone, so use it." Emma turned a page in her book, seemingly bored. "You're too smart to play the game on their terms."
Jaenelle	"No one wants to see me play the game on mine," Jaenelle said quietly. "Because that's exactly what happened to the Jhinka. All six thousand of them." She gave Emma a small nod. "I'll leave you to your book," she said, and turned and walked through the nearest wall.
Emma	So she thought Emma was a bitch? Good. She was the bitch who still wasn't afraid of Jaenelle, because Emma would have done the exact same things. Except, well, sooner. And maybe it was about time someone refused to coddle the princess. If being a bitch was what it took to keep Jaenelle from getting Karla killed next time something like this happened, then Emma would be the bitch queen of the universe.

Morton	Morton was out looking for Emma. He had a few things that needed saying.
Emma	Emma looked up from her book at the sound of more footsteps, smiling slightly when she saw who it was. "Taking a break from fussing over your fool of a cousin?"
Morton	"Trying to cool down enough to figure out what I'm supposed to say," Morton admitted, managing a slight smile in return. "I hope I'm not interrupting?"
Emma	"I'm not talking to her until I trust myself not to throttle her within an inch of her life." Emma was pissed at Karla, oh yes. "Of course you aren't, darling, what can I do for you?"
Morton	"I wanted to thank you," he said softly, offering her a grin of shared frustration with his cousin.
Emma	"You don't have to thank me for anything," Emma replied. "We weren't as much help as I'd hoped we'd be."
Morton	"You came." Morton fell silent for a moment. "It... helped. Me, at least."
Emma	"Then I'm glad we did some good," she said. "But of course I came. I wasn't going to sit at school and wring my hands waiting to hear what was happening."
Morton	"I'm glad to. It was good to see you again. Though..." he smiled slightly. "I would have preferred it to happen under other circumstances."
Emma	"Well, one of you shall simply have to invite me at some point when there's not a crisis," Emma laughed. "Maybe you ought to come out for the graduation party I plan to throw myself!"
Morton	"Are you... inviting me to a party?" Or was that sort-of-wishful thinking.
Emma	"Well, yes, but it won't be 'til spring. Unless I give myself a fantastic party for my eighteenth, in which case you're invited to that as well."
Morton	Morton flushed slightly. "That's... very generous." Okay, so that flush wasn't exactly slight.
Emma	"Morton! You're turning pink!" Don't sound so delighted, Emma, it's mean.
Morton	She had to be doing this on purpose. Morton knew it. Which didn't stop him from flushing even more deeply. "Am not!" Yeah. She was going to let you get away with a lie that obvious, Morton.
Emma	"Well, now you're more fuchsia than pink..." Of course she was doing it on purpose. She was Emma Frost bitch. "Or is that tomato? Do you have a different word for that shade?"
Morton	"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" he mumbled, staring down at his feet.
Emma	"A little bit," she admitted, smiling at him. "But you aren't brooding anymore."
Morton	What could he do but laugh at that? "You're a cruel, cruel woman, my lady." But she was right, he was smiling now. Still blushing, though.

[OOC: preplayed with changeable_eyes and glacial_warlord . Part of the Battle of Agio series, taking place on Emma's third day in Kaeleer. NFB, open to those in the Hall with SP warning! HAPPY FRIDAY YA'LL.]