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The report did finally come. Biviri had gathered not only what was now well-known news, but dug deep into the flow of money across the Ocean, dug into secret interests and profit-potentials, dug into corporate contacts and private informants, and Biviri had finally, after cycles of Nilivir trying to entertain an increasingly stressed princess, Biviri had finally sent a report on what had happened to Satarella's family.

And it was all bad news. Nice.

"I don't understand. Why would my cousin do this?"

"Money," Nilivir said.

"But my family--our family--"

"I know, right? Can you imagine family turning on one another for personal profit? That's something that's never happened before and will never continue to happen forever."

Satarella was shaking her head, fungal mass of a mane flopping about. "No. No, this can't be real."

"It is. Don't start the, that denial. This is a wound, and it hurts, and it's bad, it's real super bad. Don't tell yourself it's not real. You can't even start healing from this until you're able to say, oh, hey, there's something that hurt me. You'll make it hurt longer is all you'll do."

Satarella reared back, hooves clattering on the hardsponge deck. "No. This is your cousin sending you this report--you could be conspiring to abduct me--"

Nilivir sighed, hands on her hips, auroral arms twirling in a lazy halo behind her head. "Princess, you are alone with me, on my boat. To my understanding you're trained in oil paintings and statescraft. If I wanted to add you to my slave collection I wouldn't bother with a pretext. You've been on my boat for cycles, you could have woken up with a collar on at any point if I'd wanted it. Honestly now."

"... I'm sorry."

"Yeah it's stressful that's how it goes. I'm thinking at this point, you have two options. You can either support your cousin's coup and get amnesty, hope that holds, hope you can stomach loving family that betrayed family, or. I don't know. I can pull some tricks so they think you're dead? Then we go hang out on the Ocean, have some fun, yeah? Get up to some wild mischief?"

Satarella shook her head, not at any plan in particular, but at the reality of the entire situation.

"I really don't have anything else to offer you. Look... everyone hopes the Ocean will treat them gentle and kind but it's a cruel mother with too many children, she can't really play favorites for everyone. Eventually it's going to be our turn to suffer. You can cry about it and bemoan cruel, cruel fate, to link you to such a parent! Or you know, you can be an adult and say fuck you mom, do your best despite how things are. Distilled down into atoms those are your only two options, and only one of those does anything for you whatsoever."

"... I have a third option."

"Okay don't let me limit you yeah give it up let's see it in the light."

"We fight back."

"Princess, no, this is the problem. You're looking at this as if it's the second act of a three act play, and this tragedy is the inciting action that makes you a hero. There's no act three. What this is, is you lost. It's already over. It was a game you didn't know was being played, and you already lost. You can't buy back in. Now if, you know, if you want to die fighting then hey yeah sure that's fun good luck, I won't help you there. Waste of a cute face."

"It can't--it cannot just end like this. I am still alive for a reason! I'm still--"

"--alive! Yes! There is a reason. That reason is dumb stupid blatant happenstance. You lost. A lot of things, you've lost it, and this is the hardest part about being an adult, and even I haven't really learned it, but oh, learn from my example as a failed person. Give up. Let it go. Don't hold on to a life that's changed while you were away. Don't destroy yourself for something you can't ever get back."

"I hate this? I can't--"

"Do you want. To try. To get drunk."

"Yes!?"

"Neat."