Is this normal?!

[not_a_prize]

[1]
[Peola let out a frustrated sigh as she slumped down at the kitchen counter, hands over her head. She's had a somewhat miserable time due to reasons she would prefer not to discuss - but suffice to say Ken and Dido's ki experiments had a hand in it. Still. Nothing a small snack wouldn't fix and-]

Is that smoke?

[She turned around to see a somewhat clogged toaster literally spewing out black smog that smelled of burned... cake? Peola of course panicked, quickly rushing over to slap it on the side - causing it to fire the charred mess out with the velocity of a bullet, sending the charred mess all over the place.]

AGHK-! Damn you! At the very least that other thing is doing its job-

[This was promptly preempted by the microwave's door blasting open and splattering its contents on the far wall before it shorted out. The bluenette slowly turned to regard the disaster that was literally painting the kitchen before the sprinkler system kicked in after cutting the power to the appliances. A soggy security guard hung her head solemnly.]

[2]
[After assisting with cleanup of her mess, Peola was wallowing in the shower. Well not exactly... Somehow she managed to find a large basin, barely big enough for a person to fit in, drug it into the bathroom and was sitting uncomfortably in the steaming water with a grumpy expression as she cleaned her hair.]

Just what kind of place is this, no proper tubs... or anything...

[She grumbles to herself, continuing on to wash and scrub herself down. Odd as it was, this actually wouldn't be too bad... if this wasn't the men's shower.]

[3]
[Once again after yet another inexplicable mistake on her part Peola just crashed somewhere, picking up some reading material along the way that most likely belonged to Izuru as she lay on a chair with a mild expression on her face.]

It....blew up the moon? But that doesn't make sense... the moon is right there...

[Wait... what?]

Comments

[tiger_ken]

Well, maybe if it were a newspaper, sure.

[Ken flops down onto his bed, apparently letting the whole 'in my room' pass for now, as another curiosity takes him.]

But that's a comicbook. Its just a work of fiction - what, you never seen one before?

[not_a_prize]

[Now THAT caught her off guard.]

We... don't have many of those back home. Fiction isn't that well regarded. We didn't have a good history with stories that are made up.

[Peola looks over the comic almost anxiously.]

[tiger_ken]

...Really? How? They start a war or something?

[Well, he supposes one misplaced lie could count as a story...]

Because I'm pretty sure that every culture on Earth has made up stories at some point. Whether to teach moral lessons, or to explore possible ideas, or to explain a concept...

[not_a_prize]

Maybe... I mean there's one or two back home I know of but people prefer history and things people actually did to things like this...

And... not really. Its kind of difficult to explain considering there's a lot of history for it... that and a few other factors.

[tiger_ken]

Such as...? Because it sounds as if wherever you're from, its rather intriguing...

[Ken sits, arms folded, clearly awaiting an explanation.]

Plus I can handle a bit of history.

[not_a_prize]

[Damnit! She was hoping he would beg off or something. This just complicates matters.]

I... er... its just that...

[Damnit Peola! You know how to be diplomatic don't you?!... Wait. Apparently anything regarding that you tossed out the window!]

Its...

[tiger_ken]

Its a secret that you don't want to talk about, right?

[Ken seems very, very familiar with this notion by this point.]

[not_a_prize]

YES!

[Peola said that with a little more force than she should, then looked alarmed at how it could have possibly looked.]

I mean no-! I... gaaaaah!!!

[She buries her face in her hands in irritation.]

How the heck am I even...

[tiger_ken]

That is a good question.

[Ken, instead, flicks her face to force it back out.]

Here's mine: What is it?

[not_a_prize]

... I'll tell you. But on the condition you do NOT mention a word of this to anyone... alright?

[tiger_ken]

Ninjas live a life of secrecy. So long as its doesn't pose serious danger to Unity Group or the Earth, I can keep quiet.

[not_a_prize]

[With this she takes a deep breath and sighs tiredly. Someone was bound to find out sometime...]

I'm...

[Deep breaths here.]

I am First Princess Peola Nelfess, Secondborn child to Great King Unathi Nelfess of the Kingdom of Magnolys and sister to Grand General Harunn Nelfess the Second. I came here to Earth because it was far enough from home that nobody would look here because of a stupid, boneheaded RIDICULOUS AND UTTERLY MORONIC IDEA MY FATHER-

[DEEEP BREATHS.]

I'm hiding here.

[tiger_ken]

...So you're an alien princess on the run from your father.

[He seems... not too thrown by this. Perhaps given everything already here... or it could be he is seriously restraining himself.]

This... Magnolys wouldn't be the conquering sort, would it?

[not_a_prize]

Nah... the Kingdom's already pretty big as is. We stopped with the whole conquest thing two generations before my dad and we're just happy to keep what we have and chase anyone who wants to take it from us off-

Wait.. you're not surprised?

[tiger_ken]

Right... Right... Then we don't have to deal with them on top of everything else.

[Ken breathes a heavy sigh of relief.]

And you do realise that at this point we're dealing with several alien invasions, unknown mystic powers beyond mortal comprehension, and our allies include giant talking robots, beetle aliens, and, for me in particular, a woman who would have at one point been the Empress of evil.

Surprising, but not staggering, you know?

[not_a_prize]

Yeah... good point I guess. I mean Magnolys had a rough history at first but everything that's been happening on Earth in just a few weeks makes a war that we had to fight for over a decade way back in my great grandfather's time look like a playground brawl...

[Peola brushed a stray hair away from her face with a sigh.]

So... yeah... that's it... that's the secret.

[tiger_ken]

Also explains why your ki was... different. You weren't born under Sol, but the light of another star entirely...

But... why keep it a secret? Its not as if we have a way to rat you out to your father - we've been searching for alien life for centuries, but it still had to come to us first. And well, I've already laid out how ridiculously diverse we are.

[not_a_prize]

Its because I wanted to stop being a princess for a while and just have people give me the same expectations as a regular person. Back in Magnolys my father kept going on and on about how that as a princess my interests shouldn't be in fighting, and a lot of people were just expecting things from me that I just didn't want!

[She gave out a frustrated grumble.]

My brother and a lot of his friends... they were the only people who actually bothered listening. When he got crippled and came down with his illness things just got worse and everyone expected me to be the perfect pretty princess, all diplomatic and sitting in a court and playing wife to some scatterbrained inbred cesspool!

[She composes herself... barely.]

That and the fewer people who know about it the better... I really don't want people talking about me, knowing about what I really am. I know it'd get out somehow and when it does, I'll have the horde of idiots trying to marry me come to Earth in droves...

And that'd probably be just as bad, if not worse than an invasion.

[tiger_ken]

Again, not sure how the info could even get out there...

But I do understand the point. I've got my own concerns with family, expectations, and so forth.

[An understatement, really.]

So don't worry, secret's safe with me. Heck, so long as you didn't leave any evidence on where you went, I imagine it'd be impossible for your father to find you.

[not_a_prize]

Yeah...

[Peola lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding.]

The only way he could is through the thing I came to Earth in, and I hid pretty well and the key's right here.

[She lazily motions to herself.]

... Not to mention its been off for a long while now.

[tiger_ken]

Maybe he's busy making a spare?

[Ken shrugs, lying back.]

...This is still my room, incidentally.

[not_a_prize]

Okay, first of all I was talking about the thing I came to Earth in was a machine my brother had made for me when I did really well in my training. Meaning a spare key for that would have to be a sister.

Second of all. Ew... I mean... technically there already is one but... you don't want to meet her. At all.

Third of all I'll go in a minute. Geez...

[tiger_ken]

Waitwaitwait...

You mean... you're the key?

[Looks like the hand is on the other foot.]

[not_a_prize]

Gee, what tipped you off.

[Peola pinches the bridge of her nose.]

Yes I'm the key for my robot. That's the case with most Regalis Machina. They only work for their pilots or relatives close enough to them.

[tiger_ken]

And your father has only half your DNA...

So, what's your sister like? I've never really known what its like to have a sibling.

[...Wait, hadn't he bugged her about leaving?]