"Ahem." Azimuth stood on top of a small platform in the back of M83, her fellow rebels having gathered in front of her for the meeting she had called. Though none of them seemed particularly excited for this meeting. Their recent loss still weighed heavily on their mind. There was a few energetic murmurs about what this meeting could be about but most of the excitement seemed to be rather squashed.
"Ahem." Azimuth cleared her throat again, "I'm glad you're all here today. I've called this meeting to introduce a new member to our group."
"Another one?"
"Hey, the last few additions have been pretty cool."
"Yeah but can they really help us at this point?"
"Even the old boss doesn't sound excited about it."
Azimuth's announcement caused a stir that quickly died down. Azimuth wished she had put more energy into her words but she didn't feel like she could've put more energy into it knowing what she knew.
"Are they strong?" One curious rebel asked her.
"Not in the traditional sense." Momo said as she stepped on stage, "She does know some powerful magic though."
"So she'll help us fight?"
"No, she's going to just be helping around the base." Kaguya said, stepping on stage as well.
"She's not going to be of help at all then?"
"No, she'll be helping as part of the staff." Melia repeated as she arrived on stage as well.
"Hows' that going to help with our weather problem?"
"Hey now, give her a chance." Helena smirked as she joined them on stage.
"I dunno..."
The crowd seemed to be a bit more excited when all of the princesses showed up with smiles on their faces (save for one doubtful Melia). But that excitement came to a confused still as Roko stepped on stage looking more tired than ever.
"Pipe down." Roko said like an exhausted parent, "Let's get this over with. Come introduce yourself now."
And, stepping lightly on the stage like the falling petals of a flower, was Corissa. The smiling princess turning to her stunned audience as she spoke, "My name is Corissa. I'll be helping out in this rebellion in the background from now on. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
Corissa bowed politely to her utterly baffled audience. After her simple introduction there was a small silence as the crowd processed the information. Then they exploded,
"CORISSA?! FROM CORDIS?!"
"Oh my god, it's her! Oh my god it's HER!"
"Nowaynowaynowaynowaynowaynoway-"
"HOLY SHIT!"
"GODDAMN!"
"Corissa! I love you!"
"Boss is this real?!"
"Yes..." Roko replied, "Corissa will be joining the Earthbounds."
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"
"YES! YES! YES! YES!"
"GYATT DAMN!"
"SHE'S SO CUTE!"
"SHE'S SO HOT!"
"I love you, Corissa!"
"I have all your books!"
"Aha...ahaha..." Corissa just waved awkwardly at her adoring crowd.
"Sorry, books?" Melia frowned.
"Gravure books probably." Helena chuckled.
"Corissa does gravure shots?"
"Nah, it's just a lot of candid shots usually taken without her permission."
"Oh come on, they can't be that good, can the-"
"Damn." Melia blinked.
"I know right?" Helena snickered.
"I can't tell if Corissa's just a really good natural model or if these are the best photographers I've ever seen." Melia said as she flipped through one of those illegal Corissa gravure books, "Like, there's no way, that's the natural sun right?"
"Corissa's parents have expressly banned any candid photographs of Corissa from being taken without her permission within Cordis."
"You're kidding me. You can't tell me this wasn't staged. Look, she's holding that flower so daintily! That's gotta be staged."
"Nope."
"Wait, is this one in Memoria Auspice?! How'd they get inside?! And how'd they get such a good shot of her breasts?!"
"Oh I think I know this one. Corissa was hugging a cat."
"They're putting spy cams on cats now?!"
"You don't know even half the things these rabid fans would do for more shots of Corissa. This is all the inexpensive Rated: G stuff."
"Inexpensive? The price tag on this says 503,000 gold!"
"Yeah, I borrowed this from one of the rebels earlier so try not to damage it. Corissa's supposed to sign it later."
"No but these photos have got to be like digitally generated right?"
"Flip the page."
…
"GOOD LORD!"
As Helena and Melia flipped through the illegal Corissa fan merch, the rest of the group were sitting and standing around the meeting room table, fresh from Corissa's...invigorating introduction.
"I can't believe that worked." Azimuth said, her head in her hands.
"I can." Kaguya chuckled.
"Roko, you never told me you knew THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD!"
"That has to be an exaggeration...right?" Roko said.
"No, they have an entire panel for this." Momo smiled, "Corissa's won the title every year ever since she turned 16."
"She never officially entered either!" Helena added with a hearty laugh.
"I'm shocked that I'm shocked." Roko said dully.
"I'm shocked you ever doubted Corissa's abilities."
"Regardless, now the entire male half of the rebellion is motivated again." Roko sighed.
"And some women." Helena chuckled.
"I just hope they'll be able to fight with only one hand." Azimuth said meaningfully at Roko.
"You seem dissatisfied with my methods." Roko crossed his arms.
"Well, I certainly didn't expect to inspire our men by making them horny."
"I wouldn't say horny, just...inspired to show off their very best."
"And by inspiration you mean tits?"
"Hey, at least let Corissa say something in her defense. Corissa?"
"Roko..." Corissa said her gentle smile holding back a distress and worry that she seemed well acquainted with, "Be honest with me."
"O-Okay?" Roko blinked, not sure why he was being addressed.
"You called me last because you knew this was exactly the kind of reaction I'd cause didn't you?"
"...N-No..." Roko said unconvincingly.
"Liar!" Corissa turned around and curled up into a ball, hugging her legs as he continued to hold back embarrassed tears, "It's fine! I'm used to it! I don't even care that you took away all my friends one by one! That just gave me more time to spend playing with Aida! So I wasn't upset or lonely at all!"
And then Corissa buried her face in her arms as she began quietly sobbing.
"Cute." Azimuth remarked.
"Ah, see?" Momo chuckled, "That's how she gets you."
"Wait, goddammit!" Azimuth slammed her fists on the table.
"H-Hey..." Roko approached the distressing princess, "That's not true at all. I do actually need your abilities right now."
"Liar!"
"Ah geez." Roko sighed, "Helena, any help here?"
"Oh yeah, Corissa." Helena spoke up, "Did you know Roko adopted a kid now?"
"Huh?" Corissa looked up and turned around, locking eyes with a very scared Aranea who immediately hid behind Roko's legs again. Corissa slowly crawled over and reached out her arms, like an expert animal handler trying not to alert a shy animal. And like a shy animal, Aranea poked her head out curious as Corissa's hands slowly approached her. Then in a flash, Corissa had grabbed onto Aranea and pulled her close for a way too tight hug,
"SO CUTE!" Corissa squealed as Aranea struggled to escape her grasp.
"Aranea finally has a mother." Momo said, pretending to hold back moved tears.
"Roko can finally stop being a deadbeat dad." Kaguya added.
"Okay, I wasn't THAT bad." Roko scowled.
"Yeah, you weren't bad. You were just busy. Right, right." Helena said with a hint of mockery.
"More importantly..." Roko cleared his throat, "I do need to speak to you two about Aranea's condition."
"Condition?" Corissa stood up, the small child having given up her struggle and just laid limp in Corissa's arms.
"Aranea's a slave." Roko explained, showing Corissa the Master's Seal on his hand, "I bought her from a slaver in the black market."
"Roko..." Corissa said, not sure how to take that information.
"I know, I'm not satisfied with my decision either. But the point is with your power, we could remove the Master's Seal right now."
"I see...using holy, correct?" Corissa nodded.
"Yes. However..." Roko sighed, "I hate to ask this of you, Aranea, but stat redistribution is a very useful and unique skill that I can only use while these seals exist. So I want to ask that you let us keep this option open for now. In other words, I want to keep this Master's Seal for a while longer. I promise we'll get rid of it once we've beaten Sirus, I promise your freedom after this and I will try not to overwork you in exchange okay?"
Aranea didn't seem like she understood the complexity of what Roko was asking of her but she nodded all the same.
"Good." Roko sighed, "Thank you."
"Are you sure that's okay?" Azimuth called teasingly, "Someone might come over and say something again."
"Like who?" Corissa asked.
And as if in response, the door to the room burst open and in strolled Malus in a nice looking suit that was ruined by the royal cape he just had to have on. He held a bouquet of flowers in his hands and his eyes skimmed the room, uninterested in any of them until he settled on Corissa.
"Good afternoon...princess." He said with a romantic smile.
"You know we're princesses too right?" Momo muttered.
"To be fair, you don't act like one." Helena whispered.
"I am pleased to see someone of actual value has finally joined our ranks." Malus continued, oblivious to the peanut gallery.
"Ummm...yeah..." Corissa said, used to this type of reaction but still not sure how to take the situation, "Nice to meet you..."
"Where are my manners?" Malus tutted playfully, "My name is Malus. And I'm the strongest person in this rebellion."
"Now that's just plain not true." Momo placed her hands on her hip crossly.
"And as the strongest, I will soon take over this rebellion and oust that detestable demon, Sirius. And once I rescue Mulapin, I shall need a beautiful queen by my side. Why don't we talk over your application over some lunch?"
Malus took a stepped towards Corissa only for Varis to immediately step in between them.
"Wh-who are you?!" Malus and Azimuth cried.
"That's Varis." Momo answered, "Corissa's personal bodyguard."
"Why didn't I notice him?!" Azimuth cried.
"I mean, he doesn't talk much." Kaguya chuckled.
"Yeah but I noticed Mikado just fine! Where did he come from?!"
"He's always been there." Roko sighed, "He just never talks."
"Is he also going to be helping out?"
"Presumably."
"Is he strong?"
"Who do you think you are?!" Malus shouted angrily, "Get out of my way!"
Malus raised a fist to try and attack Varis but Varis struck first, landing a deep punch into Malus' exposed stomach, lifting him briefly with sheer power as "the strongest person in the Earthbounds" crumpled to the ground clutching his stomach in pain.
"Yes." Roko answered, "Possibly stronger than even Momo."
"Even stronger than Momo?!" Azimuth cried.
"Well, we never actually had a real duel to figure it out but I can't deny Varis is shockingly powerful..." Momo crossed her arms.
"Why didn't we call him sooner?!"
"Because he comes with Corissa."
"Oh..."
"Sorry for being a burden..." Corissa sniffed.
"N-No, that's not what I meant..." Azimuth said guiltily.
"More importantly..." Roko said, "If we're all quite done here then-"
"Lunch time?" Momo suggested.
"It's a bit early for lunch isn't it?" Roko frowned as he checked the time on his phone.
"Yeah but Corissa's going to need time if she wants to cook for us."
"Oh, you want me to cook?" Corissa smiled, "I can cook!"
"Hooray!" The three other princesses all waved their hands up in the air.
"I don't know what the excitement's about." Azimuth muttered, "I don't think our food was that bad."
"You'll see." Helena grinned, "Just wait til you see what we're getting for lunch."
In an hour or two, the time for lunch came and everyone was treated to...meat and vegetable soup.
"What the hell, Corissa?" Momo frowned.
"What?" Corissa blinked as she set down her own plate on their table.
"Meat and vegetable soup?"
"They made the soup already, I couldn't just throw it away or replace it." Corissa frowned, "I barely had time to make the crab rangoon."
"Crab rangoon's delicious though." Helena chuckled as she munched on her hearty snack.
"Especially with the dipping sauce." Kaguya added.
"They are." Momo sighed, "At least I have something good to go with my soup." Momo picked up her spoon and took a sip of the soup, "Holy moly, this soup is delicious! Corissa! Did you put anything in this?!"
"Oh, I did manage to sneak a few spices into the soup before it went out." Corissa smiled, "I didn't know if it'd make that much of a difference."
"It makes a ton of difference!" Momo said as she gobbled the soup up, "It used to be so boring and bland!"
"The batch I tried did seem a bit underspiced." Corissa nodded.
"Finally, some good fucking food." Roland said, "I missed this."
"Really? Gosh I hope everyone else likes it too."
"Well, if we just take a headcount..." Roko looked up.
"Delicious!"
"I can't believe we get to eat food this good!"
"I was so tired of this soup before! What happened?!"
"They say Lady Corissa helped make lunch today!"
"Lady Corissa?! No wonder this tastes wonderful!"
"I'm so happy she's here with us!"
"We get to eat her cooking everyday from now on?! God, thank you!"
"I'm so happy...I could die..."
"I've never eaten food made with love before until now..."
"Yeah." Roko said, "I think they like it."
"They better." Helena smirked, "This just lifted the spirits of all the women and married couples that weren't as excited about Corissa's beauty. That's the power of good food."
"It's too salty."
"That's because you're crying, Azimuth." Momo chuckled.
"I'm not crying, you're crying!" Azimuth said as she drank her soup, "Goddammit, why does this remind me of home?!"
"You are home."
"You know what I meant!"