2024-03-24: Sometimes It's Good To Meet Your Idols
- Log: 2024-03-24: Sometimes It's Good To Meet Your Idols
- Cast: Emilia Eschonbach, Sheryl Nome
- Where: Mineva Lao Zabi's Estate, Magallanica, Side 3
- OOC - IC Date: Early December 0098
- Summary: Sheryl Nome makes a discreet visit to a recovering friend on Magallanica. Emilia finally manages to interact with Sheryl in a normal fashion- and finally gives Sheryl some information she'd been keeping secret, and they talk about their experiences with family. Despite the nature of the truths coming out, Sheryl still provides encouragement and support.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
It's been close to three months since Emilia was plucked from a cargo ship fleeing Area 11 by sea. Six weeks were spent in the fixators, and now she's solidly into the physical therapy stages. She can stand, and use both her arms now- but she's still to take it easy, and use the wheelchair for day to day.
She has been out with Mineva more often lately, but today is a day in- for today she has a guest. Mineva's estate is certainly... palatial, in places. The biggest room- her comms room- is decked out like an old Zeon palace, but the remaining rooms are much more reserved, if still on the very nice side of the equation.
It also seems that they've gone all in on the Christmas Decorating. It's tasteful, but very present. A large tree sits in the main sitting room, with presents underneath.
This is also where Emilia will be meeting Sheryl.
She is not seated in the wheelchair for once, but on a comfortable lounge- but the wheelchair is right next to it, in case she needs to move. She can transfer herself now, at least. She's dressed in a green dress today, with a red and white shawl covering her shoulders and chest. She's wearing her gold locket and... a pair of rose gold earrings from Sheryl's range- a replacement for the pair that she'd had to leave behind in Area 11.
Sheryl will be guided in discreetly by one of Mineva's staff- secrecy is somewhat important here. So is security- there's no less than two members of visible security outside the room, and there are cameras. One thing is clear- the safety of the residents of this home is paramount.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Inevitably, anywhere Sheryl goes is going to be scrutinized by the media, so even though Ranka let her in that Emilia was hiding in Magallanica for Certain Reasons, Sheryl couldn't just go there and see her. She thus got together with her staff with talk of scouting locations for future interviews and music videos and went a few places, including Magallanica.
Grace of course messes with local CCTV footage; Brera keeps an eye out on the ground outside. And so Sheryl slips into Mineva's estate, clad in a discreet double-breasted coat, large-brimmed hat, and shades. Once she's inside, she'll shed that coat in favor of a crimson sleeveless dress with matching heels, gold bracelet and necklace, and--as always--her iconic drop earring.
Even more iconic now, with Sheryl knowing the centerpiece jewel is fold quartz.
But that's unrelated to Emilia, as far as Sheryl knows, so when she's escorted to the main sitting room, she greets Emilia with a smile, approaching with hands outstretched.
"Emilia! It feels like it's been forever," she greets her warmly. She does see the wheelchair, of course, but Sheryl acts otherwise, just as she acts otherwise with the security and the cameras. She knows why Emilia in particular would need this. (She knows one of the reasons, anyway.) She seats herself on the lounge next to Emilia and looks her over. "You're looking better than I pictured, from what I'd heard. It's good to see. I was imagining you were all but bedridden!"
Her smile fades as her eyebrows furrow and she seeks Emilia's eyes. "Is it okay if I ask what happened? Ranka just told me you'd been hurt bad and you were recuperating here."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Using her good arm to support herself on the arm of the lounge, Emmy stands, her face obviously brightening at the sight of Sheryl. "I-it's really good to s-s-see you!" She responds, and it's easy to tell from her voice that she's more than a little excited for Sheryl's company. "M-more than a year, at l-least."
She does blush a little at the compliment. "I w-w-was for a while. I, um, I needed th-things to hold the bones in place while they healed. I w-was only really able to start therapy a f-few weeks ago. But... the doctor's are c-confident I'll recover now." As Sheryl searches her eyes, there are well masked signs. The plastic surgeons did a good job, and so does Emmy's makeup, but if you look closely one can see the hints of a scar running over her left eye. And the fact that her left eye itself has a slight glassiness to it, and the fact that it doesn't move when her right eye does. A cosmetic prosthetic.
One can also see the way Emmy's been seated- nothing is placed to her left- it's all directly in front or on her right side.
She pauses. "Uhm, w-well. It's... it's a lot of a s-story, and you m-might not. Believe all of it. But... I can try." She looks a bit timid at that. "...um, y-you know a bit already, r-right? About my family?" Ranka told her she'd said something to Sheryl and Alto, but explaining it all might be easier if there's a bit of background.
"Oh, u-um, did you want s-something to drink or eat? Minnie's g-got a great cook on staff, and they have a l-lot of teas here."
It's still taking her some time getting used to hosting, to taking up space- to properly acknowledging this is her house too now.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"God, a year? Really? It really blurred by, didn't it," Sheryl says with a sigh. Emilia's right, though. Around this time last year, she'd only just returned from the ill-fated Gallia IV trip, and she was in the hospital herself at the time. It might be closer to a year and a half that she last saw one of her most ardent fans.
Of course, sometimes it's just like that. Sheryl's twentieth birthday came and went in a blur--a big socialite party to celebrate with other celebrities, a handshake between her eighteenth and nineteenth birthday parties. ...She preferred both of those, honestly. Sheryl knows well that connections are vital in the entertainment world, but she doesn't have a lot of people she'd consider real friends among her entertainment world peers.
But right now they're talking about Emilia. Sheryl does spot that glass eye, though she never would have guessed that it was a fake from a distance, nor did she expect to find one--not to mention that scar that crosses over it, as well-camoflaged as it otherwise is. There's a moment of dawning horror that Sheryl expertly keeps from her face.
"Good to hear!" she says brightly of Emilia's recovery. "I hate the hospital, personally, so I'm especially glad you can spend your recovery in a beautiful place like this." She gestures around them, though she lowers her hand as Emilia warns her that she might not believe her story. A bit of a frown creases her lips as Emilia mentions her family. Well, Ranka was the one who let her know Emilia was here in the first place, so... Sheryl nods. "Only a very little bit, though," she adds. "By complete coincidence, I happened to run into 'Audrey' one time while shopping. We had a bit of a chat and that was all. I never would've guessed who she really was... or that you were related to her."
Something to eat or drink... Sheryl considers for a moment, then says, "I'll try some of that tea, then. How about..." She winks. "Whatever blend's your favorite? And the snack you recommend to go with it~."
Oh no! Emilia's going to have to express herself to company!! ...Well, she could do a lot worse than Sheryl. The Galactic Nymph can have a whip-sharp tongue, but she's generally much nicer to her fans.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
"...M-maybe a little, now. B-but it felt really slow for a l-long time for me." Stuck in safe houses, running from Amalgam and Britannia, isolated with just three other people.
"I-it's pretty nice, isn't it?" Emmy says, with a smile. "The h-hospital wasn't b-bad, but... Minnie insisted I get moved here as s-soon as possible." She smiles. "Sh-she even gave up her bedroom s-so it could be set up for m-me, and she's using a g-guest room."
Emilia nods as Sheryl explains how much she knows. "...R-right. O-okay. I th-think I can, um. I think I c-can explain things." She looks a little awkward, and seems to take a few seconds, not rushing into the explanation.
"o-okay! Tea aaaand..." She hmms for a bit. "And m-maybe some of that cake if they still h-have some. They d-do a really nice fluffy sponge c-cake, with, um, with cream and jam and stuff." It's a simple thing, but... sometimes the simplest things are what you go for. She reaches for her phone, and quickly sends a message one handed. "Uh, the b-blend is, um, it's called 'Monk Pear'? It's a b-bit like a milder Earl Grey." This is perhaps a step forward for Emmy, given how long she spent shying away from Sheryl.
"O-okay, so, um. Wh-what happened." She takes a deep breath. "...This.. m-may be a bit jumbled. Y-you know a-about, um, th-the massacre in Area 11?" Emmy's tone is serious, and it's not hard to notice the hints of anger. "...a-after that, a few other GUTS students were stranded in A-Area 11, and Ashford g-got shut down. Anti-Japanese sentiment a-amongst the Britannians got r-really high, and the Britannians were cracking d-down on gatherings. Th-those students and I, um. W-we had to hide out in safe h-houses to keep th-them safe."
She pauses again, and shakes her head. "We... we m-managed to get out on a, um. A cargo ship. I-it was taking a b-bunch of refugees, but..."
Another long pause. "Th-this is the bit y-you're not g-going to believe." She grips the arm of the lounge tightly. "...o-one of the refugees was actually... s-some kind of cyborg. One m-made by Dr Hell. It... w-went berserk on the ship. And... I g-got in it's way. That's... wh-what happened." There's something... incomplete about the story, the way Emmy tells it. Like she's glossing over details.
"...Apparently... My c-cousin heard I was in danger. She said it was... a plot to harm me? I'm n-not sure of all the details. But sh-she sent someone to extract me from... from Area 11, but th-they were a bit late. I'm t-told they caught up with the sh-ship and took me here. But... I d-don't remember all that. I woke up in the h-hospital here." She looks down at her hands. "I-it was... k-kinda rough." An understatement. "Minnie- Audrey- s-stayed with me and took care of me. Th-that's um... th-that's how I got here, at any rate."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"I bet," Sheryl says with sympathy. "Being sick or injured is the worst." Mineva's using a guest room so Emmy can have her bedroom, though? "That's so sweet of her! You two must be really close. I'm not sure there's anyone I'd give up my bedroom to!" she jokes.
But the time for joking doesn't last long. There's an explanation to be given--but first, tea and cake. "Ooh, that does sound delicious! I'll take you up on your hospitality then, Emilia," she declares. Then she nods her on, sobering.
"...I did hear about that. It was horrible," she murmurs of the Nagoya Massacre. She'd been in the hospital when she'd heard, too, making hard news hit that much harder. It starts out normally enough, given that context; it makes sense that Emilia would've gotten caught up in Area 11 after martial law was declared. She doesn't know who the students Emilia's referring to are, obviously, and she doesn't press for names. That's the sort of thing it's better not to know.
Then they got on a ship, and... there was a Dr. Hell-made cyborg there? Who was posing as a student? Sheryl's eyebrows rise as she stares at Emilia. "It does sound outrageous. I can't imagine why you'd lie about something like that, though," she replies. "Even if I do get the distinct vibe like there's a lot you're leaving out--but I'll let you off the hook for that for now."
But after that, Mineva had someone extract Emilia and bring her here. Sheryl frowns a little more, but... given that faint scar over her eye, she finds it extremely believable that Emilia might've been so badly hurt that she wasn't conscious for a good chunk of her trip. "'Kinda rough' sounds like a hell of an understatement. Still, I'll take you on your word. I thought Dr. Hell was finally dead for real, though? Or was this before that happened?"
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
"I g-guess we are now... Th-this is the longest time we've had to spend together ever. We... didn't really even know e-each other existed until a f-few years ago. But... w-we're the only f-family each of us have." Emmy's smile turns a little sad. "...You g-grew up outside of the Earth Sphere r-right? Do you kn-know about the Zabi Family?" She fidgets a little, reaching for her locket, rubbing it with her fingers.
"...d-depending on who you ask they were crusaders for spacenoid rights, tyrants who waged w-war on Earth or a b-bunch of s-selfish war criminals." She looks a touch uncomfortable, as if reckoning with it herself. "M-my dad was the y-youngest of the Zabi Family. He l-led the Zeon f-forces on Earth, and c-conquered most of continental Britannia. And... he met my m-mom during the invasion, and f-fell for her, despite being on the other side." She opens the locket, revealing what's inside to Sheryl. Two pictures, one of Garma Zabi and Icelina Eschonbach- Emilia's parent- and one of Icelina a few years older with a toddler that must be Emilia on her lap.
"M-mom never told me who he was. G-Grandfather probably would h-have cut off her a-access to me if he did. He d-died on the battlefield before I was born, and Mom died wh-when the Dinosaur Empire attacked New Yark. But... my dad was Mineva's dad's father. I f-found out on my f-fifteenth birthday, and Mineva found out a f-few years after that, while she was on the run." It's far more than Emilia has dared to reveal to Sheryl before, but... she finally feels safe talking. "Th-though, most people don't believe Mineva when she says I'm her cousin. As f-far as the people are concerned, there's only o-one Zabi alive anymore."
For a blessed break, the tea and cake arrive on a silver tray, with milk and sugar to one side. The man delivering it adds two sugars and milk to Emilia's, before asking Sheryl how she would like hers. Mineva's staff are discreet, though- Sheryl is only ever referred to as 'Miss Emilia's Guest'- after all, Sheryl herself was here under the radar, and that much is acknowledged.
Emmy picks up her tea, and takes a slow sip, nodding in thanks. "...Y-yeah. I... h-had a front row seat. I t-tried to help who I could." She does however look away when Sheryl mentions she's leaving out details, taking another slow sip.
"...After. I g-guess not everything h-he made d-died with him." She pauses, briefly. "...S-sorry, I h-haven't even asked h-how you were doing. I d-didn't get to see the n-news until after I got h-here. You and Ranka w-were in hospital for a while too, right? Or am I confused?"
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Found family, in both the literal and figurative sense. Sheryl's expression turns briefly wistful as Emilia explains about her and Mineva. Outwardly, thogh, she nods. "Not a lot, and not 'til after the Macross fleets returned to Earth, but I've heard of them. And heard enough to get some of the different takes you're talking about. I didn't think it was any of my business, though."
Since it was all in the past, she doesn't say--but the past has a tendency to linger on into the present. Like in Emilia before her. Like in the photos in Emilia's locket. Sheryl leans in to get a good look at them, her earring swaying from the motion. Her eyes flick over to Emilia as she brings up her awful grandfather. Sheryl didn't know much about him, only enough to know he was a rotten man who abused Emilia. Now, at last, she has an idea of why. It's no excuse, but it does bring new context. And what a context it is.
"Incredible. You could make a movie out of a story like that," she murmurs, shaking her head as she pushes her hair back. "Though it sounds like it's better for both of you if they don't. At least not for another fifty years or so. That must've been a shock for both of you."
Tea and cake come as a welcome break. Though Sheryl can be pushy and demanding, Mineva's staff are consummate professionals, and so she treats them professionally in return. She takes her tea with some milk, but no sugar--there'll be plenty of that in the cake. To start, though, she just takes a sip of the tea with Emmy, enjoying the heat. She doesn't press on her leaving out details. She already said she'd let her off the hook for now.
"Hmm. Maybe that's why it went berserk," she muses of the Dr. Hell cyborg. Her lips twist in a sardonic smile as Emilia apologizes though. "I did come here to see you. But yes, that's right." Her smile fades as she lowers her eyes. "You know about the Gallia IV expedition, right? It turns out that there weren't just Vajra there--there were also other intelligent aliens. Ones we could talk to and communicate with. We wrote songs together, even." She shuts her eyes. "...but that came to an end abruptly. A lot of awful things happened all at once, and when Ranka and I returned, we sang to encourage the troops, and then we both collapsed. We both went through a lot--Ranka a lot more than me. She was in the hospital longer than I was because of that, too."
Another sardonic smile, this one with a knowing air. Speaking of leaving out a lot of details...!
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Sheryl's calm about it is somehow reassuring. It's a much more complicated matter for Emilia. Having desperately wanted family for so long, to not have it be taken into consideration is awkward, but in the same vein... Sheryl's known her longer than that, as both a fan and a friend. "I s-see... I guess th-that makes sense."
Sheryl saying they could make a movie about it gets a laugh out of Emmy, if just from the absurdity of the idea, a release for the tension building up from talking about her past. "...M-maybe. B-but I think I g-got enough being around a s-set from B-Bird Human. And I'd g-get really mad if th-they hired some diva to play me." It lets her breathe for a bit, the tea helping to calm her down.
"...Yeah. P-probably." Once again, Emmy hides parts of the story.
"...only wh-what was in the news." She blinks a few times. "W-wait, there are more sp-species out there than the Zentradi?" She seems caught utterly by surprise there. But she sees the pain Sheryl has recounted it. "Th-that must have been r-really hard for both of y-you." She pauses again, debating her next words in her head. "...If y-you want to talk more, I'm h-happy to listen. But if you d-don't..."
Can she really say what she's about to say? Maybe she's just sick of lying to her friends. And Sheryl is... usually pretty good about keeping secrets.
Rumours about Emmy dating Tessa notwithstanding.
"...but, um. If y-you don't... I can tell you all the p-parts I left out."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
In all fairness, Sheryl asked Tess directly, and Tess 'confirmed' it. (In reality, Tess just agreed with everything Sheryl said while dying inside, but Sheryl doesn't know that. To her, they weren't baseless rumors.) But she at least didn't spread that past Ranka, and Ranka had been there at the time too.
Getting a laugh out of Emilia makes Sheryl grin in turn. "No kidding. You saw for yourself who they got to play my Great-Aunt Sara."
Right, Emilia did know that the name 'Nome' wasn't a coincidence, right? Right.
"Lots more. Maybe we've got a common ancestor, though? A lot of them look like humans. But yeah, there's several planets worth of intelligent life out there. A literal empire of them, even! I'm surprised Ranka didn't tell you! ...But I'm betting she didn't get the chance. Or maybe it was even harder for her."
She pauses, partly in consideration of Ranka, partly to let Emilia get a word in. She offers to let Sheryl talk, or if she doesn't want to, to tell her about what she left out... Sheryl sets her teacup down as she regards Emilia for a moment.
"To be totally honest, it's a very long story. There's a lot of parts of it that're personal to Ranka, too. I don't mind telling you... but I'd rather hear the rest of your story first instead of interrupting it with mine," she replies.
Emilia already has trouble speaking. Sheryl wants to encourage her while she's got the nerve to make the offer to tell more.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
"W-wait, the movie was about..." Emmy did not in fact make the connection. She buries her face in her palm, blushing with embarrassment. "G-god I thought it w-was just a weird coincidence..." She sighs. "...god, th-though, she was horrible." She pauses. "I, uh. I may have. M-messed with her m-makeup some. For how sh-she treated Ranka." And more, but she's seeing how that one lands.
"W-we haven't really had a chance to t-talk properly one on one. You know how busy she is, and we had to make s-sure it was safe for p-people to visit first. Magallanica's comms are secure, but... w-well, it's complicated." She also, perhaps, didn't want Ranka to see her in the full state she was in for fear of worrying her.
Sheryl wants to hear the rest of her story? Emmy shifts a bit, again relying mostly on the right side of her body. "O-okay. Just... th-this stays between us, okay?" Once she gets confirmation, Emilia takes a breath and starts.
"I, um... I... used to be one of the Black Knights." She gives that a few moments to settle in. "...I went on a bunch of operations against Britannia... most within Area 11. I'd l-like to say it was for g-good reasons but..." She shakes her head. "I w-was so angry. It was right after I found out about m-my dad. The Federation and Britannia had killed him, but Zeon d-didn't even try to rescue me or my mom. And when that happened... so much... a-anger came out. At the Dinosaurs. At Getter Robo. At Britannia, the Federation, Zeon... I couldn't hold onto it. I needed to do something. And that's when Zero p-put out the call, and I saw a chance to hurt Britannia and my Grandfather."
This is, perhaps a different side to Emilia, but there's some pride underlying that anger. "...and... if some people hadn't decided I was worth s-saving, I probably would have j-just died angry." She shakes her head. "The Black Knights were the first time I found someone who cared about me since my mom died. Someone thought I was useful as a fighter... and someone else cared about m-me as a person." This feels... almost like unburdening herself.
"...you know when those t-t-terrorists attacked your mini-concert? I w-was so angry that s-someone would ruin this l-life changing experience, I s-stole and Alto and launched against them."
She reaches for the tea again, sipping slowly, letting the moisture try and counteract the dryness of her mouth caused by the medication. "...B-but between my... f-friend there and Milly, I got to f-find some things other than a-anger to cling to. I got to meet Ranka, and you, and so many people... but I wouldn't have without that f-first step."
She takes another long pause, constantly about to start talking but not finding her voice. It takes her a moment to stop, concentrate, and speak. "Th-that's why the safe houses. The people I w-was helping weren't Black Knights, but they w-were being chased. And I... I was angry at Britannia but I wanted to help my f-friends more."
Speaking of her friends. "...Do you... r-remember that t-time Ranka sent out that t-terrified message. Wh-when she w-was alone in the luggage car, afraid she'd die? B-but she didn't r-r-remember it?" Emmy stares down into her tea, not looking Sheryl in the eye. "...It's m-my fault she d-d-doesn't remember."
Another long pause, then. "...I was p-part of the assault on that train, carrying the Gundam Fighters. I got that message, and my Knightmare Frame slammed into it. I g-got out, and pulled her into m-my cockpit. One of the Britannians... P-Princess Cornelia decided I had stolen s-something, and demanded I give her 'what I stole'. I got... incensed th-that she was t-treating Ranka like a thing. So I f-fought." She pauses. "I n-nearly got us both killed... not just because the P-Princess was that dangerous... but b-because my Grandfather was on that t-train. I saw him and... I tried to kill him. That l-left us open."
It looks like the guilt of that is still weighing on Emilia, the way she hunches and shifts herself to take up less space. "...We escaped, but were stranded in the jungle near the Orbital Elevator. I t-told her everything while we hid from the rain- but then someone came for her and demanded I hand her to him. I thought... he might be Britannian. I shot him, hit him in the stomach. He... kicked me into a w-wall at the same time, and I dropped." Finally, she looks up Sheryl. "Ranka... passed out. Someone else interceded- but he escaped with Ranka. Then she messaged me telling me she w-was fine, and d-didn't remember anything. Not l-long after th-that, I saw the guy I fought with you. It. W-was Brera."
It's a lot, all unloaded at once, and it's there Emmy stops for now, taking a moment to sip again, and wait for Sheryl's judgment.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"My great-aunt and grandmother. Yes," Sheryl replies. She gives her a rueful smile. "I don't blame you for thinking it was a coincidence." She stretches out her milky-white arms in a broad, resigned shrug. "I definitely don't look like like either of them, do I? Blame that one on my father." Her hands settle on her lap as she frowns thoughtfully. She remembers well how Miranda's skin broke out--how she accused Ranka of having something to do with it. "I see. So that was you, huh." A beat. "Does Ranka know?"
Speaking of whom, it sounds like they haven't had the chance to have a proper conversation. It is true that Ranka's busy--Sheryl's busy too, but arguably less busy, or at least busy in a different way. Admissions for the amateur songwriting contest closed a couple months back, but she and her team have still been going through the literally thousands of submissions. Are still going through them. Sheryl insists on reviewing them all personally, and that's been taking longer than she anticipated, but that's at least something she can do while relaxing at home if need be. She nods once and leaves it at that.
"Of course," she promises. Then: the bombshell. Sheryl stares at her for a moment, blinking rapidly. "Seriously? You??" she utters. There's no ill will meant there, just--Emilia really doesn't seem like she'd be the freedom fighter type!! "Did you end up having a problem with Zero, too?"
'Too'? But... as Emilia continues, she frowns but nods her on. The things she mentions, the Dinosaurs and Getter Robo and everything else, are so raw and personal to her, but to Sheryl, they're things she learned about in passing well after the fact. It feels strange--uncomfortable, even. But she owes it to her to take her seriously, so she nods again. It's good to hear that she was treated well in the Black Knights, but...
"I had no idea," she utters, eyes widening again about the revelation about that mini-concert. Emilia was in the Black Knights all the way back then? But the revelations don't stop there. Sheryl remembers that panicked message from Ranka well--she'd practically begged Brera to go save her, not that he needed to be told. And indeed, Brera enters the story in a way both expected and unexpected. She's only met Cornelia once, but she knows her as a stiff and uptight person, not wholly different from Brera himself. More to the point, she knows Cornelia's reputation as an extremely skilled pilot, and she's seen for herself how well Brera can fight. It's astonishing to hear that Emilia faced them both and lived.
...and that she shot Brera. Sheryl's jaw drops at the news. She knew he hadn't let her in on everything that happened back then, but you'd think he'd have mentioned being shot!! She palms her forehead.
"Brera was there because I asked him to go there to save Ranka," she replies. "Of course, he has an enormous crush on Ranka, so he'd have gone anyway the instant he knew she was in trouble, mark my words." (This is, once again, Sheryl's misunderstanding. But it's true that Brera is deeply protective for Ranka, just not for romantic reasons.) Her tone heats as she adds, "My god! I can't believe you shot him, Emmy! You're lucky he's a cyborg!" She settles. "...But it's not like you knew who he was, and knowing Brera, I'm sure he just tried to grab her from you without explaining anything. So I can't really blame you, either. You were just trying to protect Ranka too."
She sounds more shellshocked than forgiving, though. This really is a lot to take in!
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emmy nods slowly. She can imagine that that a movie about family like that would be an interesting- and difficult experience. "I m-mean..." Emmy shakes her head. "I guess n-not. But that doesn't m-m-make it less t-true. I d-don't look like my g-grandparents either." After all, it wasn't *hard* to find pictures of Degwin Sodo Zabi in that museum, after all. "Was it... h-hard to be working on a m-movie like that? About them?"
"She d-doesn't," Emmy confirms. "I... a f-few of us were. Involved in th-that." A pause. "Not that I-I'm going to n-narc unless you're s-signing onto the c-conspiracy." Emmy smiles, a touch mischievously. "I kn-know she'd disapprove but... I d-don't like bullies."
Emmy nods. "...it's... surprised a l-l-lot of people." Her admission is a little muted. Do people really believe she's that weak? ...maybe they do. Especially now. "T-too?" Emmy's eyes widen slightly that she's not the first to reveal such a secret. "...It's c-c-complicated." Emmy says, quietly. "...I r-r-really believed in him." She says, quietly. "L-like I said he was the f-first person to... give me a ch-chance. I p-probably would have followed any p-plan he gave." Is there... shame on Emmy's face? Or something else? Hurt? "B-but... after the massacre... he d-disappeared. We sc-scattered... and most of the Black Knights wh-who were still in Area 11 w-were happy to l-leave me hanging in the wind." She shakes her head. "...too B-Britannian for them. O-only one of the p-people at the end stuck with me." ...The person who cared about her, presumably. "...S-So... I-if I see him again... I d-don't know what I'd do. I-if he r-really was captured..." Would that be enough to earn mercy?
"O-oh..." She definitely screwed that one up. "H-he does?" Oh no, she definitely screwed that up. "I d-didn't..." Emmy looks down at her good hand in her lap again. "...He... d-didn't. His VF appeared o-out of nowhere and he... c-c-came at us- w-well, me- with w-weapons." Emmy does at least seem to be truthful. "I th-thought he was g-going to kill both of us and I... r-reacted. Ranka t-tried to stop us b-but.... we e-each connected. The o-only thing that s-stopped him in the end w-was. A f-friendly MS. But... h-he still escaped with R-Ranka. I th-thought she was... in d-danger. And then... two d-days later she sends a message a-apologizing for the s-s-sick prank someone did." Emmy sighs. "She d-didn't remember any of it. I j-just..."
Emmy shakes her head. "I'd t-told her everything, but a-after she didn't r-remember. I f-figure... someone e-else should know what h-happened to her. And... sh-she really trusts you."
Still, that's a lot of talking about Ranka instead of Sheryl, but... well. That's the matter where Black Knights and Shery'ls life intersect. "...I t-tried to keep her o-out of it after that. Wh-when I could." She pauses. "I... g-g-guess you probably h-have a l-lot of questions after th-that, huh?"
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"It wasn't... hard." Sheryl purses her lips in a thoughtful frown, searching her feelings. "But it was strange, in a lot of ways," she continues. "I read that script over and over and over, even though I wasn't playing a part in it, just so I could get a better feel for how Great-Aunt Sara must have felt--to make a song that was worthy of her. But even as I read it, knowing it was based on Shinn's journals, I knew it was a fictionalized version of what happened. Were my grandmother and great-aunt really like that? Did these things really happen to them, or are they just part of the scriptwriter's imagination? All that stuff about the Bird Human and the alien genes passed down in the Nome family, that has to be made up. But I keep wondering, is there some truth to it?
"Even having Shinn's journals didn't help, because there were so many details he left out, and who's to say he didn't make some things up too? So working on Bird Human was a little bit a way to reconnect with the family history I knew close to nothing about, and at the same time, I didn't really reconnect at all. Because..." She shakes her head. "Let's be honest: Great-Aunt Sara would definitely hate me."
After all, Sheryl is an emblem of everything Sara was terrified would happen to the Mayan people. Her very existence would probably seem like a betrayal of their cultural history to Sara.
As rough as that topic is, at least Sheryl talks about it evenly. She's more emotional about the talk of Miranda's tainted make-up, and that gets a mischievous giggle out of her. "Your secret's safe with me~" she lilts, winking as she lifts a finger to her smile. "Ranka didn't put you up to it, so it's honestly better she doesn't know, and Miranda deserves to fume about it for a while."
"I bet. You play the part of the shy, timid young lady well. Though maybe it's not 'playing a part.' Maybe they're both just 'you.'" Sheryl takes a sip of her tea, then gives her a coy wink. "No one ever thinks about how the White Bunny and the Black Bunny are the same woman, after all. o/`"
She sobers as the conversation moves on to Zero. Emmy does pick up on that 'too,' but Sheryl presses a finger to her lips again, this time gravely. It's not her secret to share. That hand settles onto her chin when Emilia explains that Zero disappeared after the Nagoya Massacre. Reporting had been so chaotic, for very good reasons, that Sheryl hadn't known what if anything she could believe. But... she only nods. What can you say to something like that? 'I hope he died rather than abandoned you and your friends'? The Galactic Fairy would never be so tone-deaf.
"You didn't know?" Sheryl guesses, of Brera's feelings ("feelings" (should there really be scare quotes if they really are feelings, just not romantic??)) for Ranka. "I don't blame you. He's got a better poker face than a statue. And he takes his job very seriously. He's ex-military, you know. He's from the Galaxy fleet." Sheryl's eyelashes dip. "Just like me."
Emilia might get an impression then on why Sheryl likes Brera, despite his inexpressiveness. There's a lot to having a lost home in common. Still, she doesn't linger on it, brushing her hair back as she raises her eyes. "Thanks for telling me, Emmy. I'll keep it on the down low, unless you think I should talk to her about it. I can try talking to Brera about it, but," and here she smiles wryly, "no guarantee he'll be forthcoming."
Questions... Sheryl sets down her teacup to think. "God, where to start?" Her blue eyes soften. "What're you going to do after you recover? If Zero's gone, the Black Knights are done for, right? But you're not going to just roll over and pretend like nothing happened, are you? You're not that kind of woman."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emilia listens intently to the way Sheryl describes the experience. Finding out about a family you didn't know- can't know- through whatever means necessary. But... a fictionalized history, a dramatization... even stuff purely made up. "So even the c-c-closest things you h-had weren't..." Emmy nods. "...That's... r-really hard." She says, after a moment. "It's... really hard with that little i-information." Hard to reconnect- or establish a connection in the first place. It's the last point Sheryl makes that stings most. "...I'd h-hope she wouldn't." Emmy says, after a moment. "N-no one d-deserves to have their f-f-family hate them. I'd h-h-hope... she was b-better than that." It's a question Emmy's had too- what would have her family have thought of her?
After all... even Emilia can't fully deny that her Grandfather and eldest Uncle weren't tyrants. Her other uncle created a new sort of warcrime. Her aunt was reportedly a ruthless strategist. And her father was a martyr to treachery. Her cousin was an ambitious creep who'd kept one of Emmy's friends as a pet. Were she and Mineva really exceptions? She'd never know, though.
Of course, it's not like Sheryl will ever know either.
Emmy nods calmly. "I'll l-l-loop you in if we e-e-ever have to d-deal with a jerk like her a-again, then." There's a smile, but there's a touch of sadness to it. How many of her co-conspirators does she even still have contact with?
Emmy pauses. 'Play the part' huh? "...M-maybe both." She says, after a while. "...I d-d-didn't even know h-h-how to be angry until I w-w-was... fifteen. N-not really. G-Grandfather was v-v-very good at m-making sure I kn-knew everything was my fault. I p-probably had it in me b-but... I was too b-busy being scared and w-w-weak and p-pathetic." But the anger here is now audible, even if she's tempering it. "And... it m-meant it kept my c-c-cover safe, I g-guess. It's... e-easier to be angry wh-when you have armour p-plating and a h-heavy weapon between you and the w-w-world." The comment about the Black Bunny and the White Bunny IS able to get a giggle out of Emmy though. "T-true. And it m-makes f-for a really hard f-first sewing p-project to t-try and show people." She looks a touch embarrassed. "G-g-god, I d-didn't even know y-you were going to be the j-j-judge when I did it. Honestly... Diamond C-Crevasse was the first time I l-listened to music and r-r-really... felt something. But the g-girls in the FSC convinced me White Bunny/Black Bunny w-would be the b-better showpiece..." Still... happier memories are nice to reflect on.
Emmy blinks at the finger to Sheryl's lips, but nods slowly. Right. Of course.
Emmy shakes her head. "I d-didn't. Th-that was the first t-t-time I'd ever... encountered Brera." Still... Emmy can appreciate that hometown connection. Especially when it's one you can never return to. "You b-b-both survived th-that..." ...No wonder they're both so tough, in different ways. "You d-d-don't need to. I just... i-if she does r-remember what happened... It'd be good if s-s-someone she can trust can ex. Explain it."
Emmy is patient for the question- but also nervous. Her right hand grips her dress tightly. "...I d-d-don't know." Emmy says, perhaps surprisingly. "...Mineva w-w-wants me to stay here. Where..." She pauses. "Where sh-she can keep me safe. She... d-doesn't want to lose a-any more family either." And Emmy can understand that, even if her face drops. They were only allowed to know each other existed recently. "And I w-want to try finishing school, wh-when I get well enough to g-get back. I c-can't go back to Ashford but..." She looks back at Sheryl. "...I don't kn-know if... M-Mineva's idea of s-safe will work f-for me." She says, even if it seems like it stings to say.
"...M-Maybe I'll s-s-sign up for the M-Magallanica Defense F-Force? I'd... l-like to protect her too." But even then... that answer doesn't seem to satisfy Emmy herself. It's more... a grasp for something closer to wwhat she wants.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"Yeah..." Sheryl raises her gaze to the window, eyes wistful. "I mean, maybe those journals were accurate? But I can't know. Even if Shinn did genuinely do his best, that was all his own perspective, and he only knew Sara for a really short while. Sure, it was an intense experience, but it's not the same as knowing someone for a really long time." Her smile warms and she looks back at her friend as Emilia prays that Sara isn't such a small-hearted person. "Thanks, Emmy. It's fine, though, really! We're never going to know for sure anyway, so I'm not going to worry about it."
Worrying about what people you've never met and never will meet would think about you is a good way to denigrate yourself, and Sheryl Nome would never. Arguably, Emilia's not any better off for having family members within living memory that history has much better records on. Mineva's a good egg, but the others... That's a yikes. And Sheryl at least doesn't have any social repercussions to worry about, while Emilia had to live with them her whole life.
"You'd better!" Sheryl declares with a wink. She does catch that drop of sadness--but that's all the more reason to keep herself sunny. Emilia needs positivity right now. ...even if it is on the topic of punishing bullies. Maybe especially since it's that topic.
Her gaze turns sympathetic when Emilia talks about her experiences with expressing anger growing up. "Think of it this way: you had your awful grandfather actively squashing you down your whole childhood and you still turned into the ultimate rebel! Even if you were weak once upon a time, you sure aren't anymore. But of course, you don't need me to tell you that. You're already living it!" Her smile revitalizes, confident and vivacious. "And you've been living it every day ever since I've known you, even if I didn't see it!"
She breaks into a grin of her own when Emilia giggles. "It's challenging yourself like that that makes you stronger, too! Your clubmates were right about the Bunnies being a better showpiece, though." Her gaze softens again. "...Even if I agree that Diamond Crevasse is a more poignant song." It's her very first song--of course she can't help but feel a deep attachment to it. It's gratifying to hear that those feelings touched Emilia too.
But... yeah. Sheryl can't imagine Emilia had a lot of positive interactions with Brera if that was their first meeting. Of course she didn't now. How could she? Regardless, she nods. "All right. I'll keep it in mind for now, then." With Emilia needing to stay in hiding like this, there's no guarantee if Ranka does remember that Emilia will be able to explain it to her herself. Sheryl will accept this responsibility.
She nods as Emilia expresses her indecision on the matter of the future. "It makes sense that your cousin would want you to be safe. Nobody wants to see their loved ones go off into battle, knowing they might not ever come back," she murmurs, gaze pained. It's how she feels every time Alto goes off in his Variable Fighter--well, more or less. "But it makes just as much sense that you have to be true to yourself. No matter how much you and Mineva mean to each other, you can't just let her clip your wings to make her feel better."
She leans back in her seat, folding her arms in thought. "The Magallanica Defense Force sounds like a good compromise." (Even if 'compromise' can be a fancy way of saying 'no one is happy.') "That way you can stay close, too. And maybe you can go to school... mmm, probably not here? Is there a school here yet?" She shakes her head. "Well, the Frontier's not that far away. Maybe you can finish up at Mihoshi Academy." She winks, smile returning. "I can guarantee the quality of education~. If you've got any questions about it, ask away! I'll answer anything!"
...Which might distract from the story of what happened at Gallia IV, but it might not be a bad idea to leave it be for now. As Sheryl said earlier, there's a lot that's more Ranka's place to tell than hers--and leaving that story for another day also means a reason for them to meet again. That kind of hope is more precious than a crevasse full of diamonds.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
"...Yeah. Y-you can just... m-make the best guess you can and h-hope." It's not a particularly satisfying answer, but it's the only option in front of Sheryl. "R-right." ...Sheryl is pretty tough, huh.
The enthusiastic 'You'd better!' gets a smile out of Emmy. "I c-can't wait to s-see what you have up y-your sleeve. I bet wh-whoever d-deserves it won't see it coming."
It's Sheryl's enthusiasm for her changing herself that catches her off guard. "R-Really?" Emmy looks... frankly, totally surprised. She really didn't expect... enthusiasm. "...Y-you're the first person I've t-t-told outside of the Knights who h-hasn't asked... y-you know... why? Or. Just w-w-worried about me." It's... honestly heartening. "...Th-thanks, Sheryl." It's a quiet but warm thanks. The first reassurances that maybe she made the right decision.
"M-maybe I'll have to try a-again sometime. N-now I'm more confident." She thinks back, to the first pageant. It was a very embarrassing experience for her, back then, but now... "Or... m-maybe find my own look f-for it. O-once I've recovered... at least."
Honestly, she was terrified he'd blow her cover at that GUTS event... but he didn't, for whatever reason. Why, though...
"Th-thank you. I'm r-r-really glad she has f-friends like you and Alto a-around." In part because she can't be...
Emmy does fall silent as Sheryl talks about those feelings and fear. It's rare to see Sheryl like that, not putting on a big performer's front. "...yeah." ...How many people would have been scared for her if they knew?
She can think of one in particular that she had avoided telling. "...Y-yeah. You're right. I j-just..." She drifts off... it's hard to work out being family at this age, but at least she has that option. Sheryl doesn't- and she doesn't want to rub it in.
"...S-some are starting up, b-but a lot of students go t-to school on the S-Side 3 colonies. But th-there's a lot of refugees. M-Mineva would o-organize tutors, p-probably, but... I kind of miss it." Her eyes do light up at the talk of Mihoshi Academy, though. "R-Really? M-Maybe Mineva would b-be okay with that... and the F-Frontier is the nicest p-place I've ever been..." ...And she used to be new money. Even Magallanica, even the not-palace in which she and Mineva live, wasn't as nice a place to live as the Frontier.
And so, with questions to ask and the hope of something new and fun, Emmy has many questions for Sheryl about life on the Frontier- enough to keep them going until Sheryl has to leave or Emmy needs to rest.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"Really? Well, it's normal for your friends to worry about you, but I decided to fight too after the Vajra wrecked my home. I understand how you must feel." Sheryl grimaces. "Even if I turned out to be no good at fighting." She flips her hair, confidence returning. "But we all have our strengths and weaknesses! It was still worth it to learn how to fly. As for you--you've been doing this for, what, around two years now? And you fooled everyone that whole time! You might've gotten injured after what happened in Nagoya, but clearly you know what you're doing. Who am I to tell you to stop?" ...but then her smile turns rueful. "Still, try not to be too reckless, all right? You already lost an eye; I'd hate it if you lost the rest of you."
A firm nod follows. "You definitely should try again. That lack of confidence is what killed you before." She smiles, eyes sparkling. "Whether it's one of my looks or a look all your own."
And whether it's Emilia or Sheryl who supports Ranka in the end. ...And whether it's Sheryl or Ranka who Alto picks in the end. Ah, a beautiful triangle... But Sheryl keeps that one to herself.
Emilia trails off, and Sheryl doesn't press. If she found a family member she didn't know she had, she'd want to keep them safe too, but this is between Emmy and Mineva. Hopefully they can figure out something between them that they're both satisfied with.
As the conversation turns to school, though, and in turn to Frontier and Mihoshi Academy, it's easier for both of them to be brighter and more future-focused. Sheryl has quite a few recommendations for places to live there, too--ones that may or may not be in Emmy's price range, considering they're places Sheryl would live--but it's a lively conversation all the same, up until the two must part.