Antagonistic Appropriation

AN: Delayed by an annoying concussion that I'm still supposed to be resting from <.< >.> . Beta-read by @Nuew, @Vebyast, and @crystalcat .

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I stomped toward the town square, plotting furiously while my teeth spitefully crushed helpless sustenance and condemned it to the acid pit known as my stomach. Apparently, Edmund had been right and the name similarity wasn't a coincidence after all; my former coloration was one coincidence too many. That left the question of how much weight I should ascribe to said similarity. My darkname preceded the appearance of the core Rainbows by, what, three years? But it was plausible that they'd received at least some training beforehand, and Magenta had been active for a good five centuries. The effects of any possible fate-influencing magic might only have been magnified to ludicrous levels when the other Rainbows showed up, yet it was plausible that the seeds of future success could have been laid well ahead of time.

I was starting to regret not mentioning the uncanny luck of the Rainbows to anyone else. We'd all complained about the numerous coincidences and narrow escapes, of course, but I wasn't sure how many other people had realized that the Rainbows' luck was indeed a force. Something that would, and often did, intervene on their behalf. I could absolutely believe that it had influenced darkname selection to nudge me toward a potential destiny beneficial to the Rainbows.

Was I the Violet, or merely a potential Violet? Between Joy's presence and my past hair coloration, it would be easy to arrogantly assume that I must surely be intended to fill the spot. What if I'd died beforehand? I was a soldier living in a tyrannical and ludicrously corrupt empire; my survival was by no means guaranteed.

But then, I'd been quite lucky, too. Spiteful rage had pushed me to attempt my first and hardest pre-graduation fight entirely unarmed, with more than one attack landing within centimeters of grievously injuring me. Just yesterday, I'd been able to dodge Topaz's opening attack due to spotting her out of the corner of my eye; if I were positioned at a slightly different angle, her surprise attack might have succeeded.

For nacht's sake, I couldn't even be assured that Joyful Devourer of Dark Destiny's name was unrelated. A 'dark destiny' was said to be an unpleasant one, but it could also refer to most destinies within the Empire just based on coloration. I didn't buy that the Rainbow's luck could influence a full-fledged goddess to that degree. It may, however, have grabbed the opportunity presented by Joy's name and influenced events from there.

'You're both overthinking this and overlooking an obvious explanation,' Joy idly commented.

Despite her words, I could feel her glee. She was entirely too happy about the issue dumped in our shared lap.

It would be irresponsible for me to not dedicate as much thought as possible! I snapped.

'Death is a dark destiny,' Joy revealed. 'And I'm no longer convinced that the world would be a better place without those girls.'

My trail of thought led directly off a cliff. By the time I recovered, the Rainbows were already in sight — and looking at me quite strangely, I had to say. The odd looks not only intensified when I finished off my last few bites of bread, but Tender Thyme actually started laughing. I self-consciously wiped my face with a pad of umbra and tried not to look as embarrassed as I felt.

That the Rainbow's luck might be unknowingly caused by a divine being — who was I, to say that it wasn't possible? If anything, it was more plausible than a grand spell wrought by mortal hands. Joy's guess felt arrogant, yes, but she was a goddess. If there was any brand of entity that should hold dominion over fate and destiny, she was it.

What in the abyss was I supposed to do with this information? It might be Joy's doing, it might be something else, yet some force was nudging me toward joining the Rainbows. How hard should I be fighting that? Should I even bother acknowledging its meddling, or simply continue as though its influence did not exist?

"Good morning!" Adorable Aquamarine cheerfully called, like she hadn't been dismayed by my arrival just yesterday.

I panned my gaze over the colorful group, careful to maintain a disapproving frown. Every living Rainbow save Aquamarine and Azure were seated on the shadowed side of the fountain, an oversized black curtain draped across their laps, and remained that way even after my arrival. I wondered if they even realized how rude they were being.

I also wondered how much thought had gone into their seating arrangements. Sunflower sat at the left flank, which wasn't optimal, but they might have prioritized her ability to blind others and force a retreat. Her light magic did have an annoying tendency to supercharge Thyme's plants. Timid Thyme sitting in front of Sunflower was a little more dubious; she was competent, but often panicked when I pressured her for too long.

Then came the standing Azure and Aquamarine, who should not be the ones at the front by any stretch of the imagination. Curious Crimson flanked Aquamarine, further exacerbating the issue; Crimson was an archer, but often froze up when I engaged her. For that matter, she was currently staring fixedly at me in a manner that was actually a bit uncomfortable. It almost seemed like Crimson was hardly even breathing. Finally, Tireless Topaz flanked Crimson. This despite how Topaz and her flames were arguably the most suited for front-line combat.

At least the Rainbows were smart enough to pick the central fountain as their staging point; Aquamarine could do quite a bit of damage with that water, and sunlight covered the far half of the fountain. Overall, they were in an excellent position to withdraw if necessary, and it being the exact center of the town gave them an excuse to choose it as 'neutral ground' even though it arguably favored them.

Which might be why everyone somehow seemed relaxed enough to, of all things, smile at me, even if Crimson's fake attempt looked more like a rictus grin. There was something even stranger than that, though. Specifically, the fact that Accepting Azure was not, for once in her life, trembling like a leaf. Instead, she looked calm and poised, her hands folded in front of her and her magically-reinforced gown elegantly framing her figure.

As much as I'd like to let her maintain a mask of dignity, I couldn't afford to do so. If it wasn't Azure under there after all, I would get in so much trouble for declining to call them on it.

"Drop the illusion," I snapped. "I assume–"

The confident, straight-backed, and thoroughly fake version of Azure vanished in favor of the shaking, hunched, and generally timid teenager that I was familiar with. I was suddenly forced to wonder if Azure would reflexively obey my orders in combat if I spoke with enough authority. I'd never tried it.

"Better," I acknowledged, nodding to the trembling teenager before redirecting my attention to the group as a whole.

Or—trying, at any rate. With Azure positioned front and center, it probably looked as though I was still focusing on her. What had possessed them to make the most timid Rainbow the center of attention? I didn't like making her life more difficult; her illusions might be irritating to deal with, but her general disposition wasn't at all suited for combat.

"What do you want?" I demanded, crossing my arms and glowering at the group of underprepared civilians masquerading as magical warriors. "You should know that the Shaded Empire doesn't respect the sanctity of parley with regards to yourselves. If you don't give me a very good reason for me to humor you, I'm afraid I'll need to follow the standard policy of attacking without warning."

They didn't seem at all surprised or even dismayed by my hint. Good. Maybe this would be one of the days where they weren't completely incompetent.

"How about concessions?" Sunflower offered.

I made a show of considering the offer, but after my apparent success yesterday, I was more than willing to hear them out. I wouldn't get a better excuse than discovering 'why they'd wanted me out of the way.'

"Adequate," I allowed, and the Rainbows noticeably relaxed.

I tried not to let my smile grow too large. It wasn't that I rejoiced in the fear of others; if anything, I often found it sickening. These six, specifically, had been such a pain and it felt like a compliment that they should hesitate to fight me. Their wariness was the best validation of my skills that I'd encountered to date.

Aquamarine stepped forward and gently nudged Accepting Azure back with one arm. The illusionist all-but hid behind the smaller girl, and — I couldn't just let this go on. Even if they were enemies, this was cruel. Oh, Azure's withdrawal would leave me to interact with the Rainbow I most disliked, but needing to talk to Aquamarine was preferable to this.

"Oh, for pity's sake, sit down," I snapped.

I once again intended to elaborate on my order, but was left off-balance when Azure obeyed with alacrity. I soon recovered my senses, of course, but I was still confused. Seriously, just what had Magenta done to this poor girl?

"Oh my gosh, Azure, you useless lesbian," Thyme whispered.

"S-Shut up!" Azure hissed back. "T-That's not–she's scary!"

I started to funnel umbra to my ears with the intention of shamelessly eavesdropping. To my mild disgruntlement, Aquamarine promptly interrupted my self-enhancement efforts with a clap of her hands. I was left hanging from unsatisfied curiosity, still wondering what they were squabbling about. Azure following my orders without a second thought, probably; that reflex was a liability.

"Okay," Aquamarine said cheerfully. "So the first thing on the docket is a personal matter. Specifically, we wanted to apologize about any ways through which we previously offended you, the soldiers under your command, or the populace in general. I know I was the worst offender out of the entire Rainbows. I never doubted that cursed citizens were still people, but I will admit that I still thought of them as warped. Which was wrong of me. I'm still pretty sure that umbra is doing bad things to your brains, but that applies to everyone unpurified, not just the non-humans — um. I mean people currently shaped–"

Curious Crimson finally managed to break free of the odd stiffness that had gripped her thus far, leaning forward to jab her fingers into Aquamarine's side.

"Stop digging," Crimson hissed.

Aquamarine wisely shut up. I raised an eyebrow and opted to take the initiative.

"And you thought it was appropriate to apologize to me, one of the few humans in the platoon, rather than waiting until Gray arrives and could actually accept your apology?"

"I mean…" Aquamarine shrugged and waved at the soldiers presumably lurking around the edges of the square. "They're back there waiting for an excuse to convert us into pincushions, so I'm sure they're eavesdropping. Your platoon are all — and I mean this in the most positive and complimentary way — absolute freaks of nature. Even Magenta was complaining about how many times you lot've killed her."

"I'll be sure to pass along your praise," I said impatiently, flicking one hand in dismissal.

I had to bite back a half-guilty laugh when the simple gesture was enough to get Tender Thyme jerking upright like she'd expected umbra to follow the arc. It seemed as though yesterday's skirmish had left its mark on the skittish girl.

"Right, uh–" Aquamarine faltered, before turning her back to me and shooting a pleading look at Studious Sunflower. I had to resist the urge to lunge forward then and there.

Sunflower sighed, used her lance to help pull herself upright, and swapped positions with Aquamarine. The water magician gratefully collapsed in the likely-warmed spot where Sunflower had once sat.

"To put it bluntly, we realized that you were right," was Sunflower's opening.

I blinked, clasped my arms behind my back, and discreetly pinched my own hand. Too many things were going right today. Sunflower waited for her first words to sink in before continuing her speech.

"Merfolk alone would turn abrupt national purification into an atrocity, to say nothing of gnomes or pixies or — or everyone who might outright die if they turn human in their own homes. That's just — we're fighting this war to help, not to harm, and hurting that many people is flat-out unacceptable."

I fought to keep a straight face. Mer were myths and the last selkies had died out over a century ago. Even peasants should know about the resulting difficulties in obtaining underwater resources that had once been abundant, shouldn't they? At the very least, selkies were known for pioneering modern fishing tools.

Sometimes, I really did have to wonder where Magenta found these girls. Every time I almost started to think of the Rainbows as uneducated rubes, they'd do something absurd like assemble a miniature magical siege engine on the spot, or alter the color of Sunflower's light so that they could blend in with a rock wall, or tamper with the shapes of Azure's illusions so that their apparent visible distance somehow no longer matched their actual distance. Then they'd open their mouths again, like right now, and reveal a staggering depth of ignorance about the world around them.

My platoon had dedicated an entire betting pool toward the nature of their origin. As captain, it would be dangerous for me to participate. Gray nonetheless shared some tidbits from time to time. My preferred theory was that of a successful set of magical experiments of some sort, or perhaps a many-generational breeding project with the goal of producing magicians with as much power as possible. Magenta certainly had the time to let one come to fruition, and I knew that the Empire had a similar program.

The Empire's variant was reportedly an utter failure, of course. Most Imperial initiatives were; rampant embezzlement and nepotism tended to do that.

"Ongoing nation-wide starvation means that the Curtain still needs to go down at some point," Sunflower continued, "but we can put it off until Spring planting at least. I doubt that's enough time to construct alternate shelters for everyone who might need it, though, so — maybe we could clear the Curtain from large amounts of farmland, but leave the bulk of it intact? The actual purification of the Shaded Palace can wait until we can do it safely, and possibly with a stockpile of reagents to enable transformations back into their preferred — is 'species' the right word?"

It took an effort of will to confine my reaction to clenched teeth behind closed lips and an otherwise blank expression. Sunflower's offer was practically everything I could ask for, but the Shaded Court would never accept it. They'd prefer to see half the nation burn than lose their control over even a quarter of it.

Worse, these six were not the entire sum of the rebellion. If there was an actual leader of the rebellion, it was Majestic Magentism, not the other core Rainbows. If I was correct and Magenta was indeed a foreign agent, seeing the greater Rainbow Revolution splinter would only help her cause. Grind not only the Empire down, but the rebels who might otherwise have won and started on the slow process of consolidating power.

That horrible old hag truly has left us with a mess to clean up.

'That only makes it more important that you get this done before she returns, right?' Joy pointed out. 'I suspect this is going to be much easier than you think without her actively working against us.'

I forced my jaw to loosen and took a deep breath. I wasn't sure if Joy was right or not, but she was trying to be supportive, and I would settle for the sentiment.

"While your proposal is a significant improvement," I said carefully, "I somehow doubt you obtained popular support for this proposed change in direction before coming here. Did you completely forget about the Rainbow Revolution's invading army?"

Each and every one of the Rainbows froze as though they'd been caught stealing medicine from a sickly child. As they should. The Rainbows seemed to have forgotten that the Curtain protected those outdoors and above ground from having unfiltered sunlight burn umbra from their bodies. Those indoors or underground were quite capable of continued resistance, especially in crowded urban environments, especially dense forest, or perpetually overcast bloodlands.

"I thought so," I sighed, pinching my brow. "There are going to be those who joined you specifically because of the destruction and death that would be caused by your original plan, to say nothing of simply wanting to topple the Shaded Empire as a whole. I somehow doubt you'll convince them to follow your lead. I cannot explain the myriad of issues with your plans without committing treason, but suffice to say that any changes that you attempt to unilaterally impose are doomed to failure."

'I'm not sure it's as bad as that,' Joy disagreed. '…Although the rebellion would definitely splinter, it's true.'

Aquamarine shot an odd glance at Thyme, who promptly shook her head and hunched in on herself.

"So! Actually!" Aquamarine chirped, bounding back to her feet. "About that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Shaded Empire royalty are capable of issuing pardons, right?"

I couldn't stop myself from tensing and narrowing my eyes, my thoughts already leaping ahead. The Shaded Empress obviously wouldn't be issuing any such thing, and Crown Princess Julianne held a particular grudge against the Revolution for purifying her favorite concubine and weakening her position enough for a potential marriage alliance to fall through. On my end, I thought that the only time I'd ever noticeably slipped was today, in front of Gray, and that was too soon to form any sort of plan based upon it.

Magenta, though? Magentism being an avatar would explain a great deal about her persistent ability to stubbornly not die across the span of some five centuries. Popular theory had been that she simply attracted herself back to the prime of her own life, especially since she'd been offered clemency more than once by past Dark Empresses; if Magentism wished to claim the throne as an avatar, she'd had more than one excellent opportunity over the course of her long life. However, all those theories assumed that Magentism would be motivated by power instead of the weakening and destruction of the Empire.

They had better not be proposing pardoning me after I commit treason for them. That would never work. Trying to pardon themselves would fail faster still.

"In theory, yes," I said coldly. "In practice, the Shaded Empire does not need a reason to kill you. You don't need to be guilty of a crime to be sentenced to execution, or even to face an unending parade of assassinations. The average lifespan of an avatar considered loyal can be measured in months. I don't think I need to tell you that any avatar you somehow convinced to side with you would last even less time."

Everyone save Crimson visibly stiffened, and my eyes instinctively flicked to her in investigation of the odd one out. It seemed that her own lack of movement was due to already being — could I call it 'stiff?' She seemed relaxed, but her only movement was that of breathing. Even her gaze seemed distant and unseeing. Stray droplets from the fountain still seemed to be hitting Crimson, though, so I didn't think she was one of Azure's illusions.

'I'll see what I can find,' Joy promised. 'I think she's physically and spiritually present? You're right that this is odd even by her standards, though.'

I couldn't help but twitch at the reminder of Crimson's recurring behavior. I was convinced something had broken in the young woman, as Crimson did not react to intimidation attempts as she should. Most memorable was when I'd rammed a rapier into the ground next to her throat, and she smiled up at me like I hung the stars. That wasn't normal.

"Would it at least buy you a little leeway for negotiating with us without that being considered treason?" Aquamarine pressed, pulling me from thoughts of the most confusing Rainbow. "I imagine that imperial soldiers aren't just allowed to kill anyone they feel like, right?"

I shook my head.

"Good! So–" Aquamarine started.

"You misunderstand," I interrupted harshly. "Umbral Elite Captains are allowed a wide degree of discretion in the completion of their tasks, and there would be harsh questions raised if I humored your legal folly for even a minute."

The Rainbows present stared at me as though I'd started speaking in tongues. Again, where did Magenta find such naive puppets?

"This empire is messed up," Sunflower murmured.

I carefully did not agree with her assessment. My avoidance of treason was promptly rewarded via Aquamarine trying to drag me into treason.

"New question, then," Aquamarine tried. "Say the Empire somehow pulls out an upset win in this war–"

"No," Azure interrupted, abruptly rising to her feet with a rare expression of resolve.

Aquamarine stepped back too quickly for Azure's outburst to be entirely unplanned; there wasn't enough hesitation while Aquamarine tried to adapt her own intentions. Or perhaps it was simply group policy to let Azure have her way during the rare times she spoke up? It might well help her gain confidence in herself over a longer period of time.

"We're not going t-to make headway this way, a-are we?" Azure asked rhetorically. "For whatever reason, you t-think—um—you think that the E-Empire could s-still win this war if it got its act together. The Rainbows are constantly pushing the line, and you s-still think this. It can't just be wint-ter, the Revolution is advancing t-too fast. And t-there aren't many o-obstructions left. Yet you s-still think the E-Empire would do a better job fending off foreign invasion than the Rainbows could after t-taking over."

Armored, armed, with Joy's ever-present support, and I still felt oddly vulnerable under Azure's scrutinizing gaze. I hadn't seen her like this before. Rare moments of open defiance, yes. Terror temporarily shoved aside so that she could help her friends, practically every fight. Not a narrowed-eye examination like she was pulling me apart and reassembling the pieces into a less disorganized image.

'Hey. I'll have you know that you're very well organized compared to most mortals,' Joy joked.

"It's the Capital, isn't it?" Azure asked, assuming a rhetorical tone. "You think they'll s-somehow present a barrier when nobody and nothing else could."

I hesitated, and wondered if what I was about to say would count as treasonous. But then, everything I was about to say was publicly known information. Another, smaller part of Us — of me didn't want Azure to return empty-handed after marshaling her confidence and forcing herself to speak to someone that not only terrified her, but had tried to kill her on multiple occasions.

"I only share this because it is obvious that Magenta hasn't informed you," I finally hedged, "and it is somehow in her best interests to keep you naive and compliant. Given her long record of opposing the Empire, it is logically in the Empire's interests to ruin whatever plot she may have in store. Nothing I am about to say is by any means a secret, and indeed, is often shared by town criers.

"All that said: the Spired City represents not only the single greatest concentration of force in the Empire, but a greater amount than perhaps the entire rest of the Empire combined. Each and every member of the Shaded Court has invested significant portions of their wealth into ensuring their own survival, and would individually be on par with my predecessors, if not stronger, should they elect to take the field. Many past Dark Empresses invested in the defenses of the Shaded Palace and the city as a whole. The Royal Guard are said to be peerless warriors and can be expected to match or exceed my own combat ability.

"My platoon would likely lose our lives for our failure to prevent you from advancing that far. You, in turn, would lose your own for daring to infringe upon the Shaded Empire's capital."

Somehow, the Rainbows had the nerve to act surprised by my conclusion. Surely they knew why some of their past opponents had disappeared?

"Are you joking?" Aquamarine asked incredulously. "You and your troops are the only ones to delay us for more than at most three clashes! Even the tricky ones usually topped out at two! By what metric is that failure?"

One where someone needs to be blamed so that others can avoid the fate they deserve for not supporting us more, I did not say.

"I am not at liberty to speculate on the reasoning utilized by my societal superiors," I deflected. "Regardless, we are drifting, and I believe that any further discussion is inadvisable until and unless you manage to convince your subordinates to support your intended changes. Unless you have some last minute subject to raise?"

The eyes of the Rainbows flicked to Azure.

"I, u-um—" she stuttered, eyes flicking between me and something behind me. "I—oh, f-forget th-this!"

My hand reflexively flew to my weapon as Azure's right hand snapped out, aether spinning to form a small orb in her outstretched palm. Moments later, sound emerged from the orb and I threw out my own left arm to stop my subordinates from doing anything hasty.

"May I introduce Days Dawn At Midnight, Goddess of Ice and Peace," Azure's illusory orb boomed in her voice.

Blue-tinted dark fog flooded from the back of Azure's neck, bounced off the fountain behind her, and rapidly billowed outward to fill the entire town square before pushing into Little Shade's streets. Immaterial snow and hail shone throughout the miniature fog bank, demanding that attention be drawn from Azure and back to her surroundings. That demand could be ignored. More intrusive was the cloying cold that rapidly sank into my skin, whispering that I was entirely too tired for this nonsense and should go back to bed.

Joy, abruptly wrenched from her own examination of Crimson, almost unfolded to meet the alleged goddess' challenge. My own burst of panic at Joy's reaction stopped Joy just short of actually revealing herself, and I could feel her indignation give way to apologetic sheepishness.

'Sorry,' she murmured. 'Instinct.'

Please don't do that again, I begged. It would be cruelly ironic to be revealed by accident after nineteen years spent under the empire's nose.

'I'll be more careful, don't worry. Still, that's…'

Azure trailed off, presumably examining the frosty fog suffusing the square and the miniature snowstorm framing Azure's own form.

'…That's not a goddess,' Joy said, sounding baffled. 'I mean, I don't expect other goddesses to be as awesome as me, but this one is just… If I'm feeling generous, I guess she might be the lingering remains of a goddess' spirit after its body died? Maybe? I mean, it's bite-sized and everything.'

I choked back a laugh, but couldn't manage to hide my smile. When Joy called something bite-sized, she definitely meant it.

All the Rainbows save Azure promptly smiled back, almost certainly misunderstanding my reaction. At least the troops behind me couldn't see my expression.

"As the avatar of Days Dawn At Midnight," Azure declared, "I hereby claim the title of Crown Princess of the Shaded Empire of Dusk."

Azure paused for a moment to let her claim sink in. Her expression was uncharacteristically emotionless, yet the only present illusion seemed to be the orb letting her speak without stutters.

For a moment, I somehow felt upset that someone jumped into the line of succession ahead of me. Sanity prevailed and helped me suppress my burst of jealousy within moments. I might well have succumbed altogether if their 'avatar' was someone like Sunflower, Aquamarine, or worst of all, Magenta. Azure, though? Of all the Rainbows present, she was by far the worst suited for any political position. So much of Imperial politics was reliant on the perception of existing strength, and Azure was a timid illusionist. The Court would eat her alive.

Which, I suddenly suspected, was probably the entire reason that Magenta had kept Azure's alleged avatar status a secret. She would be likely harmful to one's cause if held up as a ruler during a revolution, but afterward? When one only needed a puppet and excuse rather than someone truly inspirational? Azure would serve Magenta's purposes perfectly.

Either that or the Rainbows built the entire plan from scratch within the past day. I doubted it; even they weren't that foolish.

"Under the powers granted by my position as Crown Princess Azure," Azure continued, "I pardon both myself and the former Radiant Rainbow Revolution members known as Adorable Aquamarine, Tender Thyme, Curious Crimson, Tireless Topas, and Studious Sunflower for their previous crimes against the Shaded Empire of Dusk."

Possibly the worst part about Azure's declaration was the existence of historical precedent for heirs to the throne pardoning themselves. No past prince or princess had committed crimes as egregious as leading a popular revolution — the most common was some form of murder — yet they committed crimes nonetheless. That being said, the exclusion of Majestic Magentism was prudent of them; the core Rainbows could easily buy time by arguing that she'd lied and misled them.

"Sunflower, Aquamarine, Thyme, Crimson, and Topaz shall accompany me and act as my personal guards under the shorthand name, 'Prism.'"

I honestly had no idea why Azure didn't just declare them a Royal Guard unit under her own command. She had the right to do so as Crown Princess, and instead she tried to dodge such a declaration by calling their designation, 'shorthand'? Why bother? This route didn't grant 'Prism' any protections that they wouldn't already have — the Dark Empress could still order them away in both cases — and arguably introduced vulnerabilities. For example, official Royal Guards faced fewer legal inconveniences when permanently dispatching assailants or undesirables.

"I further decree that the 1st Umbral Elite shall escort me to the Capital so that I might be officially introduced to the Shaded Court and Her Dark Majesty. These Umbral Elites shall continue to support Prism in their efforts to guard me until and unless countermanding orders are issued from Dark Empress Adalgund II or myself. I expect that we will need to spend some weeks in the Spired City before suitable attire can be tailored to suit myself and Prism; it would not do for us to be formally introduced whilst wearing the potentially controversial colors and styles of our former affiliation."

If it wasn't for Joy modifying my muscles, I wasn't sure that I would be able to keep myself from gaping at Azure. She was planning to do what?

"You intend to enter the Spired City with us as your escorts," I questioned, flabbergasted.

"We do," Azure agreed, lowering her volume but still speaking through her illusory orb.

I have heard and participated in some exceptionally stupid plans, I thought distantly. But this is definitely occupying the top of the list.

"Without your supporting army," I checked.

"That is correct," Azure calmly confirmed, shifting to clasp her hands behind her.

Credit where it was due: Azure did do an excellent job of the, 'speak utter insanity as though it's only reasonable,' part of being a Crown Princess. Although, in this case, I felt confident that the Rainbows as a whole were responsible. Azure wouldn't have conjured such an aggressive strategy on her own.

They're going to get themselves killed, and possibly us with them.

The Rainbows were naive and inexperienced, but usually not stupid. There had to be something I was missing, especially since Azure seemed to have been encouraged by my disclosure of the Shaded Court's strength. Surely it wasn't just that the Rainbows still treated reaching the Shaded Palace as a victory condition? That might have been true when the Rainbows only needed to purify the Palace to break the Curse, but they truly seemed to have accepted that such an act would be an unacceptable atrocity.

I pushed past my reflexive thoughts about how they're all going to die and tried to think of how — aside from sending an incredible number of assassins — the court might react to having the Rainbows settle in their city. There was no telling what the Empress might do; I didn't know how much of what I'd heard of her was propaganda, and how much was actual policy. As for the rest of the Court...

...Oh. The same mindset that would have me executed for failure would have a great many idiots convinced that they could, and should, attempt to demonstrate the weakness of the Rainbows via duels or other forms of ritual combat. Combat supplemented by rampant attempts at cheating, of course, but I didn't expect even the most enthusiastic attempts to pass muster. Not when Azure could deflect challenges to her 'guard,' condemning morons as not worthy of her time. Anyone attempting a group challenge instead of solo combat would be even more thoroughly doomed.

Weeks of reducing enemy manpower by picking off assassins piecemeal, executing idiots attempting to look impressive by challenging the Rainbows–

No, wait. The Rainbows don't kill people, and purification would provoke incredible outcry. What in the abyss are they up to?

I could feel eyes prickling on the back of my neck, and the Rainbows looked similarly expectant while I furiously thought. Nobles were favored on every level and experienced little hardship in life. How many believed their own lies and assumed that they could defeat the Rainbows in combat? How many others would rightfully view lost duels as signs of weakness, to be exploited at the first opportunity via daggers in the back?

There would come a point where the Rainbows couldn't postpone their introduction to the Court any longer, and I expected them to then be blamed for a sudden rush of 'mysterious deaths and blatant assassinations' among those who'd lost to them. But for bypassing the ritual defenses that could well ravage an invading army, pruning the Shaded Court, walking into the Shaded Palace itself, and demonstrating that members of the Court should send their opponents against the Rainbows first while conserving their own strength...

The 'Prism' would still get squashed, actually. It was a plan that relied on the assistance of a genuine goddess, not the mostly-dead remains of one. It was fortunate that they did, in fact, have a goddess on hand. Their plan was still very very stupid, and I sincerely hoped that they had more tricks unknown to me that would turn this choice into something vaguely sensible rather than ridiculously reckless and doomed to failure without Joy's aid.

Really, there was no winning in this situation. If I denied the Rainbows' play, the Court could spin my refusal as daring to place my own judgment above that of the Crown Princess or possibly even the gods themselves. If I cooperated, I would likely be condemned as a traitor for supporting them unless I did absolutely everything right.

Well, if the Court is stupid enough to let this work, I suppose they'd be useless in an invasion anyway.

"As you command, Princess," I sighed, raising a strangely sluggish, cold-numbed hand to rub at my forehead.

'I'll be honest, I'd be tempted to smite her if I didn't admire the sheer audacity. I'll allow it.'

Again, you are entirely too happy about this entire situation.

'I've been offering to eat the Shaded Court for something like half our life. You're the one who cares about collateral damage.'