Founding the Imperial Heart

[A camera somehow watches the scene as it unfolds, though neither women ever seem to note the presence of a camera]

Lu Zhou Yi
Finally, she came to a stop at Lynette's doorway, a small bundle of papers clutched in her right hand. The woman did not wear the fine skirt and shirt as she had to the cafe weeks ago. No, she had dressed as she usually did when she traversed the AFW campus: in her red coverall uniform with hair drawn back into twin tails. With a brush of her hair with her left hand, it was shifted behind her shoulder just before she reached out with that same hand, closed fist artfully landing upon the wooden door. Time was short. The resurgence of the White Gale and the arrival of this new League pressed her to play her cards as best as she could. The White Gale ad had played upon the television, impossible to miss the day it aired, and it continued to air a few times later. The appearance of the Heels was a bit more subtle, though the e-mail had found its way into her inbox, despite the sender's intentions.

Lynette de Villiers
The apartment, for its part, was right on the edge of campus, and boasted a fairly desirable place in town, with a noticeable rent tag, if one knew anything about real estate. A warm, inviting glow shone in through the windows as petite knuckles rapped upon the door, and after a few quiet moments, some shuffling could be heard within the chic homestead. Shortly thereafter, the door would ease open, and there stood Lynette, in a state of comfortable evening undress, with a pair of thin, arched eyebrows as she discovered her friend on her doorstep. She wore a scarlet bathrobe that hugged the curves of her slim figure (and presumably as expensive as it was soft and comfortable), the bottom of the robe swishily dropping just above the knee, and a pair of black slippers wrapped around the soles of her feet. "Ooh la la...ma petite souer," she marveled bemusedly, before stepping back and gesturing an offer of entry. "Do come in...it's a chilly evening tonight, no?"

Lu Zhou Yi
"Thank you, jie-jie." she gave a slight bow of thanks to her recent host before entering the lavish abode. Yi had not yet been within the lovely apartment, and her mind allowed her eyes to scan the whole place for every interesting detail available as her mouth continued it's business. "A few weeks back I thought everything was going smoothly, there were no factions. No people trying to form an unstoppable coalition. My calculations were wrong... A regrettable event, but not one that is insurmountable." She ranted. "But now, the White Gale has found a new leader, a brigand who thinks she can take command of the Face organization. And, a little morningbird informed me of this." she showed the printed e-mail that called for heels to unite under a fairly familiar face... though not the girl Cerbera. The e-mail was offered for Lynette to review, if she pleased.

Lynette de Villiers
Lynette turned with a little flourish to guide Yi through her humble little home...which, in truth, was not so humble at all. Lynette appeared to have the entire apartment to herself, a two bedroom unit with more floor space than most actual houses boasted. The French fashionista led the way to an expansive living/sitting room, with classical Victorian furniture sprawled about with an impeccable decorating style. A bust of a gorgeous woman stood on a podium in the corner; a violin stood perched at attention on a stand by the door; a largely impressive sound system with all manners of additional add-ons took up almost an entire wall. As Lynette swept into the room, claiming it as her space immediately, a subdued, hauntingly beautiful classical piece drifted throughout the room; Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Gingerly draping herself over her couch and picking up a half-empty glass of red wine, she let her hand move widely across the room, with a smirk on her face. "Please, sit anywhere," she'd insist, before hiding a smirk into her glass. Really, now! Already, Yi wanted to talk the business of their sport. Taking a tiny sip, she'd breezily take the pages from her friend, and begin to idly flip through them. "Apologies for the mess..." she murmured as she reviewed the file, only half-serious; the place seemed pristine in its elegance. "This news is no good for your plans...?"

Lu Zhou Yi
The prospect of finding a proper domain within the Kingdom de Villiers occupied her attention as Lynette perused the e-mail. The whole apartment could have fit her single room apartment within its confines approximately five times over, which either spoke to the luster of Lynette's tastes, or to the minimalistic nature of the Lady Yi. Jealousy tempted her mind, as the French woman's ability to play host was superior on all levels to Yi's own. "I had..." she had concluded that there was not a poor seat in the house, but there were those that could better fit with her tastes. One near but not against the wall, facing room entrances and windows while still maintaining a position of command in the room. Slowly, she lowered herself into a single heavy chair, but did not recline, rather leaning forward onto her knees so as to remain engaged in the conversation. "I had relaxed in recruiting attempts, thinking there was nothing more to be done... but now with this news..." she shook her head. "So many... unworthy women making grabs for power... it is unsettling." At least Yi knew that she was not fit to lead. With these words said, she seemed to relax, leaning backwards into her chair, though her eyes did not shift from the Lady de Villiers.

Lynette de Villiers
Lynette looked up from her new reading material only to glance from Yi to her bottle of wine at the corner table, silently offering her the empty glace on the table top. "Hm?" she murred before returning to the e-mail. As the next few seconds wore on, her playful expression shifted to one of slight exasperation. Tch...so many stupid women... "Agreed. But those of that stock will collapse on themselves...or beneath us." Lynette's words were still thick with French mirth, but there was a spike of an open challenge to those who clamored for boastful glory by hiding behind leagues and scores of others to do their work. Sipping her wine once more, those oceanic eyes drifted up to lock with Yi's. "Fear not, petite souer...they will eat their words with a stainless steel fork...one way or another."

Lu Zhou Yi
Us, the word itself almost caused a crack of happiness in the girl's emotionless mask she called her face. She kindly declined the red wine by raising her right open palm by a mere half inch. The historian had many fantastic abilities that suited her strategic mind and her precision style, but alcohol very swiftly overtook her mental capacities. She found that the caffeine the other day had caused her right arm to not stop moving for the rest of the day. "I do not fear... but I do plan." She did not budge as Lynette seemed to back off. She wouldn't say it. She wouldn't offer. The woman had to show her desire to lead. "It could take months or years for that to happen, and a subtle campaign to tear the group apart from the inside without a regulated external campaign would simply be... too risky." She had to admit, the plushness of this chair was almost like sitting upon a cloud... or at least the way one would imagine sitting upon a cloud should feel like.

Lynette de Villiers
Those deep blue eyes flickered quietly between the pages before her and the disposition of her closest confidant in the AFW. Slowly, a smile curled at the corners of her lips, and Lynette sipped her wine again. Just seeing Lu Yi there in her parlor, coming with this news of rivalries and irresponsible factions, and with the amount of concern on her eastern porcelain features...well, the Lady de Villiers could deduce a process. Crossing her long, slender legs smoothly over one another and lifting her head with a point of command, Lynette's eyelashes fluttered in a sultry gesture of dangerous consideration. "Petite souer...you simply cannot allow this to stand, can you?" Her voice was perfumed thickly with French arrogance, but her words were certain. "It would be uncouth of me to see you in such distress...and such women would only continue to poison the federation..." With a purposeful, elegant rise, Lynette lifted a hand with a noble brandish of a clutched fist before her, she looked down upon her seated friend, with proclamation. "It appears I have no choice...I will erase these shameful wretches from their false seats of importance...Petite souer, ce rêve...Follow me, and Lynette de Villiers will make it so."

Lu Zhou Yi
Her pounding heart had to be ignored so that she might hear Lynette take command. Stand and raise a fist. It was a risk, indeed, to have a woman who was new to the league lead in this fashion, but Yi knew that a powerful leader could rise from the smallest foundations... and it would be up to Yi to increase the foundations. As Lynette stood, Yi sat up, almost in awe at how the noble woman had taken command of the situation. She had seen it playing out like this, almost exactly. She nodded, when called to follow the woman. Yi would. The tweeners would, some out of spite to the other groups, and some for Lynnette's natural leadership. And the rest would join as Lynette proved her strength. Finally, she stood from her seat to meet Lynette. "I shall give all of my power to your success." Right fist pressed to left open palm, fingers wrapping around the fist as she bowed to the French woman.

Lynette de Villiers
Lynette could not ignore the rush of excitement that gripped the deepest place in her chest, the surge that came with a decisive ascension to a to-be-realized throne. Her eyes flashed dangerously as the french noble smiled while her mind continued to peruse a choice selection of juicy future accomplishments, before she snapped to attention and offered a little wave from her wrist and a warm nod; imperial for 'you are accepted.' Raising her cup of wine up with a purposefully elegant posture, she toasted Lu and gave her a predatory wink. "Then we cannot lose, l'est vrai?" And with that, took another dainty sip from her glass. It was time to instill some discipline into these presumptuous, stupid girls. Heel, Face, Tweener...it did not matter. Lynette was a Winner, and Winners were the ones who ought to regulate the AFW, non?

Lu Zhou Yi
She nodded her head at the suggestion that they could not fail. "I have been recruiting, and shall continue to recruit, now for you. But so far, I could only recruit to an idea, a theory. Quite the mouthful to explain. What shall our title, our name be?" There was already Divine Heresy and White Gale. Both were easily identifiable, easy for people to rally behind. She now looked to the noble woman for guidance, her first act as leader. The name that would take back AFW from these two frightful extremes...

Lynette de Villiers
Retaining the appropriate of intensity befitting of power-seizing monarch, Lynette lifted a finger high into the air, willing to pierce the heavens if they strayed in front of her ambitions. "Only a name befitting of an installation of order and civility, ma petite souer...We are an empire. Let the Imperial Heart beat strong and claim all." Snapping her arm downward and forming a fist once more, Lynette looked akin to an decisive anime heroine for one moment, before she sipped her wine, and broke the image. History had waited long enough...it was time to inscribe her name into it.