Angela - TG 2-2

Years Alive: 29, Physical age: 18 Mental Age: 16

Angela hugged Alana good bye, the sheet of water a comforting pressure against her senses. "You've got that amulet to switch back and forth with?" she demanded.

Alana smiled in return. "You put it in my wedding ring, I don't think I'm going to lose it."

"Good," grinned Angela giving the girl a peck on her cheeks. "I know you're not going to be using it that often, now that you've legally changed your gender to female, but… You never know when you're going to want to be male, again. Like if you ever need to punch your husband for being an idiot."

Alana giggled a little, at that, blushing afterwards but hugging Angela all the same before letting the girl disentangle herself and turn to Greg.

"As for you," declared Angela, "if you ever hurt my friend I will personally rearrange your face. I'm thinking a lot less facial hair, a lot more top hair, and a nice set of long eye lashes to go with the big set of new boobs you'll be sporting."

"Got it," smiled Greg, giving the girl a hug. "We're sorry to see you go, you know."

"Yeah, I know," she mumbled, "but my quick fix is getting old, my training's done, and if I don't get back now I'll never straighten things out back home."

"Your quick fix finds that offensive," declared Sam, pulling her into his own kiss and giving her a kiss. She made a mock face in response, dodging his exaggeratedly slow old-man smack. "You do remember that only a few minutes will have passed on your home world, the way you set that portal?"

"I know," she grinned. "I'm going back to try to resolve things on my home world, not skip a couple hundred years ahead and avoid them. The fact that they might not know who the hell I am while I fix said problems with my world is just an added bonus."

He smiled, giving her one last hug, before letting her swim on out.

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Angela plunged into the water, smiling as her legs turned to tail and discarding her clothes with a sad smile, pushing them back through the closing portal for Alana's sake. She slipped a pouch over her stone before going on any further, hiding the recognizable stone from view.

She swam, outward, coming upon the city limits with a sigh of relief that quickly died in her throat when she saw Mellonia. "Looks like we have new blood," she grinned. There was something different about the girl, Angela decided, looking her over as she smoothly slid into Angelique. Or maybe there was just something different about her.

"That anyway to talk about a family member, cuz?" grinned Angelique, knowing the family resemblance was too clear for anyone to doubt. "And I came to join the main branch of the family with such high hopes, too…"

"That's precisely how we teach members of this family," shrugged Mellonia. "Just ask my dead cousin. If you're smart, you'll start your stay in the big city by finding a member of the higher branches and bowing down - like me."

"Please," smiled Angelique, pushing past her. "Maybe you're heads gotten a bit air logged, but I don't bow to catfishes who seem to think they can bark."

She felt Mellonia building power behind her, easily deflecting it with a mix of sorcery and elemental, smiling when she saw she'd successfully hidden the telltale glow of her skin; learning magic did pay off.

She spun to Mellonia, hand on her hip. "Brute force, already? And here I thought you actually had to have something respectable about you to lead a clique."

Mellonia snarled, lunging forward and stopping as Angelique bound her in water. The others didn't move, prepared to let the power struggle play out as Angelique carefully intertwined a hand in Mellonia's hair, and kissed her. She continued it, for a minute or two, waiting until the tension drained in a wave of helplessness before parting from her victim, and gently pushing her away, point made. "Next time, I'll use tongue."

Angela let her own personality resurface once she was safely out of view, a wave of guilt passing over her at what she had done. The Kiss was a common enough staple among mermaid power struggles, albeit one almost guaranteed to make an enemy, but the fact that she'd done it still left a bad taste in her mouth. Even if it had been the only way to drive home the fact that she wanted to be left alone.

She shook her head, waiting for the feeling to pass before swimming into the city.

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She looked up at the mansion in front of her, biting her lip a little at the sight of it. As always, there seemed to be a party going on, inside. She'd always heard it, inside the Fishtali mansion as she went inside, but she'd never expected to actually go inside.

Swallowing, she reached for the handle, swimming back in surprise when a hand gripped it for her "After you," smiled the owner of it, a well muscled merman who's sleeked back hair made her want to laugh.

"Why thank you," she grinned. "I'm afraid I'm a bit new in town… I'm Angelique Fishtali, and you are…?'

"Duke Theodore Salidar, at your service," he smiled.

She bobbed her head. "I hope you won't mind showing me around?" she asked. "I never really got out, back home… you know how it is," she sighed. "The reclusive daughter of a small time member of a small branch…" Who's paperwork has been entirely forged. "My father decided I needed more time out, so he sent me here to find a job in politics. Know anyone I could talk to that about?" she asked, swimming inside and waiting for the duke to catch up.

"I might be open for a discussion… say, over dinner?"

"I don't know," she said, biting her lip. "I was planning on spending my time today pushing all the paperwork, though - you know how it is… I can't get my monthly stipend unless I register with this branch of the family, and all that. Such a pain, but I didn't want to bring anything from home…"

"I'll push it through for you," said the duke, shoving his head nonchalantly. "I know the head of the family fairly well. His daughter, Mary, recently came back a… disgraceful episode best left unsaid. He's in a good mood - I'll get you a nice upgrade, now that you're living in the city. It'll be waiting for you, at… where are you staying, exactly?"

"Well, I was rather hoping to stay here. You know, in the ancestral home of my family, surrounded by relatives. Close to anyone I might wish to associate with, but not so close as to give them any more gossip than I want to…"

"It sounds like an excellent idea," he smiled. "So, what sort of food would you like to discuss this all over?"

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Angela smiled, swimming into her new room after her date. It had gone fairly well, considering the fact that she'd been having it with a slime ball. He'd given her money, a room… no job, yet, of course - but he'd promised to look into a recent opening as "Ambassador to the Unliquified World," considering her "interest in helping the pitiable land walkers." It sounded bigger than it was, she knew, considering the small fact that they didn't give a fish's scale over whether or not they had good relationships with the land walkers… but it was a start, if she could get the job. He'd also given her an invitation to a ball at the place, for the next day.

She plopped down on the bed, still smiling as she looked up at the ceiling. Tomorrow was going to be a big day… but she still wasn't ready to get any sleep. Tossing the windows open, she swam out, heading into familiar territory and heading for the pet shop. She grinned, as she saw Miranda out front.

"I'm sorry," said the girl without turning around, but we're close…" her words dropped off, in shock, and a stab of worry crossed Angela's mind that she'd been recognized. As kindly as she remembered the woman, she'd learned better than to talk of things out loud around here. "You're… the new fishtali in town everyone's talking about, aren't you? Angelique?"

Angela smiled, not bothering to slide on the costume. "News travels fast in the city, huh?"

"You have no idea," smiled Miranda. "It's the only strength a lot of us have - gossip means prestige. You get enough of it…"

"You get in the big cliques," smiled Angela. "Trust me, I know."

"You do realize you're being here alone puts me at the top of the gossip pyramid, right?"

"Then let me give you something to gossip about," she smiled, reaching into her bag, and pulling out what looked like a tiny pink sea horse.

"Is that a… Kyra?" asked Miranda, glancing at the ones in her window.

Angela nodded, quietly animating the homunculus in her hand and watching it perk up, blinking wearily before darting over to snuggle Angela's neck. "It's actually an artificially created life form," she admitted. "The land walkers use them - but I wanted to see if it would pass the mustard before I activated mine."

"Is that what I am?" it whispered in her ear, making Miranda nearly die of shock.

"They also talk," she grinned. "And yes, that's what you are, hun."

"Oh… okay!"

"That's…" managed Miranda, "That's… I think I'll stick to the little ones, for now… I can't even afford one of them, yet alone…"

"Then how about I buy you one?" smiled Angela reaching into the pouch attached to her new belt.

"You… want to give me one?"

Angela shrugged. "I came asking for advice, which you gave - plus, I hear you were the only one nice to a certain dead cousin of mine."

The woman's face hardened. "If you're here searching for information on that little girl, out of some idol curiosity, I will tell you right now to get the hell out of-"

"I'm not," smiled Angela, quickly. "I'm just hoping that anyone who was willing to be nice to her, might have a little bit of time to show the new girl around occasionally. The boys get stuffy, now and again,"

She hesitated, then nodded. "But I'm not going to let you buy me off," she warned. Angela grinned, stroking the little Kyra at her ear. How do you tell someone that they're one of your biggest inspirations? The very reason she'd waited all these years before bringing her homunculus to life, the very reason you chose that type in the first place?

"I wouldn't dream of it," she smiled instead. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I honestly need to go to bed…"

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The first part of the new day passed in a fairly large blur. A bit of swimming, a bit of searching, a tiny bit of idle thinking about the chocolate shop she might build if everything panned out… and a whole lot of boredom.

Finally, however, she swam to the palace, handing over her invitation and swimming inside. She grimaced when she saw the duke, taking the chance to slide into an off branching hallway for a quick rest before dealing with him. A weight slammed into her stomach, making her think of Katie for a moment, before looking down at the small blonde head.

"Hi!" came the giggling voice. "I'm Princess Allison. Will you hide me from my meanie big brother? Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaase?"

"Sure," she grinned, bending down to the girl's level, "Where is he?"

The girl squeaked, making Angela turn around to blink at the man behind him. Though the crown on the man's brown hair was a dead giveaway in and of itself, his princely glare certainly didn't make him any less obvious as he looked down at Angela.

"You'll have to excuse my little sister," he said, smoothly. "She has a genetic condition that makes her look and act what the humans would call ten. It's rather distressing, I know, which is why I kindly asked her not to come to the ball."

"Meanie! Mommy said I could come!"

"Mother also put me in charge of today's events, and I say you can't."

"Well, I'm going anyway!" she pronounced. "I'm going with… with… um…"

"Angelique," smiled Angela, foregoing her alter ego for the time being.

"I'm going with Angelique, because she's awesome, and my new bestest friend in the whole wide world! So there!"

"You heard the princess," smiled Angela, swimming with the girl outside and smoothly begging her leave of the duke as she began a dance with the giggling little girl.

"I gotta go outside and potty!" announced Allison. "But… can I dance with you, later? You're nicer than my meanie big brother!"

"'Course we can," she grinned, watching the girl head off and quickly departing into another hall. It paid to keep the boys waiting, for mers, after all. Particularly when the boys name was Duke Theodore.

She glanced around curiously, taking in the vases stolen from sinking ships with a look of disgust as she passed through the hallways, pausing when she heard a sob; there was something about that room… Slowly, she reached for a doorknob, mumbling a word under her breath to unlock it and peering inside. She swallowed when she saw the girl there, her magic's reaction telling her from the offset that she was looking at another half mer.

A hand pressed against the door, slamming it shut, and she looked up to see the prince's livid face. "You shouldn't be poking around where you don't belong."

"You shouldn't have little girls locked in rooms that can only be unlocked from outside." retorted Katie, her own lips peeling back.

"She's a Halfling," he shrugged.

"Like I care!?"

"You must be Angelique," intruded another voice, making her turn around. The resemblance between him and the prince was uncanny, particularly considering the apparent closeness of their age. Considering the larger crown, however…

"You must be King Bartimus," she smiled.

"And I see you've met my son, Harrison," he smiled, slightly.

"Met, argued, hated.., I want that girl out of there."

"As do we all," he sighed, "But you know the rules, Angelique. She's a Halfling - an unclaimed one. We have to brand her, and put her out, now that her mother is dead. Maybe if we had known, we could have handled this more discreetly, but…"

"Discreetly?" snarled Angela. "You're talking about burning a confused little girl, and tossing her on the street, but you want to talk about discreetly?"

The king sighed. "I don't like it anymore than you do, Angelique. It's barbaric."

"It's necessary," interrupted Harrison.

"it's barbaric," repeated the king. "But to do otherwise would result in revolt from half the nobles and a good portion of the popultion. With my son's crown hanging in the balance, it is not something I can lightly afford to risk."

"Then let me take her," said Angelique.

"You know the rules, Angelique," repeated the king. "And I don't know you."

"You don't need to know me, you just need me to take her out of your hair - she's half mer, I'll put her on land, talk to her from the sea. I learned the spell to grow legs temporarily, it's in my files - that makes me overqualified already. I'll adopt her under human law, you'll avoid disgrace or whatever the hell you wish you could be discreet about."

"Figures you'd be a dirty land-lover," muttered Harrison. "I say just brand the girl and toss her to the blooders. It worked well enough for that Mary girl, it should work well enough for this girl's family as well."

Angela's fist was stinging before she even realized she'd done anything, the prince reeling from the punch she'd delivered, although more from shock then pain. "Don't you dare talk about that, again," she whispered, marching into the room, blinking when she saw the girl staring at her.

"Um… Hello," she whispered, "My name is Angelique." God, she sounded lame. "And I'm going to be your new mommy."

The girl glomped her, sending her reeling for a moment, and bringing a smile to her lips. She glared at the men behind her, still too flabbergasted to react, and swam out of the palace with her new daughter. Every foot was a new miracle when no guards came out to get her.


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Angela tossed the few new possessions she had into her new suit case, snapping it shut and looking around for Melody, spotting her hiding under the bed. "You don't have to hide, anymore," she smiled.

"Actually," came the king's voice, "I think she's hiding from me."

"Come to arrest me yourself?" she shrugged.

"Actually, I came to congratulate you on your new position as the Ambassador to the Unliquified World.

Angela blinked up at him, confusion warring with anger. "I decked the crown prince," she said, at last.

The king just shrugged. "He had it coming."

"You don't give people jobs for decking the crowned prince. What's the catch?"

The king hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "As you know, Harrison can't take the throne unless both the nobles and the people support him. The nobles are no trouble, but the people…"

"All think he's a jerk?" finished Angela.

The king grimaced, but nodded. "The only chance of him succeeding is if he finds a girl that people like as much as they dislike him, and who the nobles don't dislike more than they do like him."

"And if he fails?"

"His sister gets the crown, and her genetic condition may put the entire royal line's continuation in jeopardy… no one wants to take the chance of it being passed down to their kid."

"Nice," she said, sitting down on the bed next to her suit case. "Now tell me what the hell this has to do with me. I'm too new to be liked."

"You're also too new to be hated," he pointed out. "You're a new player that everyone wants to bring to their side of the table. More so since you began to show off your political skills."

"Political skills?" choked Angela. "The first thing I did here was challenge my own cousin to a duel!:

"Dominating her, and taking over her clique," added the king "You have utilized the duke's need to impress you in order to quickly and efficiently establish your presence as a member of the most prestigious family outside of my own. You also befriended one of the gossips, allowing for the quick travel of your kindness throughout the city, and impressed her with a foreign technology that, if I'm not mistaken, has been sleeping from your ear this entire night." Angela blushed, as the king continued. "Which removes all thoughts of you being an open sea bumpkin and turns you into an impressive girl with an unknown arsenal they can't afford to offend just yet."

"So… what? You want me to date the prince?" she scoffed. "What? Run out of candidates?"

"Yes, actually," he admitted. "He sent every nice girl off crying. You're the only one that decked him… and you wouldn't have to seriously date him, just yet," he added, misinterpreting her shocked silence. "Just… let him take you out, a few times. You get the job you wanted, which will require almost no work but open multiple doors as a government employee, exactly as you wanted, and you're daughter."

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"I'm trying to save my son's crown."

Angela hesitated for a moment, then spoke up. "I want a house."

"Excuse me?"

"I want a water accessible house where I can raise my daughter, in return for not bringing her into Mer territory again. Complete with amulets so that I don't have to worry about my spell ruining out of juice. You can put it next to the chocolate shop I'm going to pick out and buy. And I want to be able to grant passage through mer territory to humans, if I deem it necessary."

"Well, you're certainly not shy about asking for things," he muttered.

"You're blackmailing me? Well, I'm blackmailing you. You said it yourself, you're out of options."

The king hesitated, then nodded, grasping Angela's hand with a smile. "Done."

Maybe things were looking up after all.