[Sephiroth is seated at a table, outside, one of the ornamental tables that one can find here and there within the Gardens, among the flowers, an idyllic spot. On the table is a curious chess set, which was Sephiroth's gift for the Winter Holiday. She is regarding it thoughtfully, alone but for the tendril of Vine coiled companionably around her wrist.

She's been quiet of late, but she's starting to feel more--what is it that she feels? Sociable? Restless?

Sephiroth has been here almost a year now, and she and the Vine are old friends. She's spent a great deal of time bonding with the plant, fascinated by it.]

I used to play chess often as a child. My favorite was the variant in which one can view one's own pieces, but not the pieces of one's opponent. It took three boards and a referee to play--one for each player, and one for the referee to view, to see how the pieces stood together. War chess, it's called. Like a general, one only sees and guides the movements of one's own troops. As in war, there is no perfect information, unlike in standard games of chess.

[She'd never lost. She picks up one of the monster-shaped pieces, turning it in her hand.]

This is like the sets we used. I wonder, does anyone else like to play? Ordinary chess will do.

[The vine has suddenly decided to tune in to its newest arrival!

... a redhead that seems to be sleeping comfortably on the ground. So comfortably that she is actually snoring and... is that drool on the side of her mouth? Yes. Yes it is.

Wait, it looks like she’s finally going to wake up!]

Don’t you worry anymore! I, Hong Meiling, will not let anything happen to this land I love!

[Or it could be that she’s decided to talk in her sleep.]

As long as I remain on guard, no harm will befall Gensokyo and its residents.

[What is she even dreaming about? Must be something pretty exciting, given how she’s raising her fist in the air. Fortunately, she wakes up before embarrassing herself any further.

She sits up, eyes half open, looking positively groggy.]

... Huh?

[Meiling finally begins to realize that something isn’t quite right.]

This isn’t the mansion. [An astounding observation.] Where is...?

Mistress? Lady Sakuya?

Where did you all go?!

[Looking more and more worried now.]

I-I wasn’t sleeping or slacking off! Honest!

[... right.]

Why am I wearing this dress?

[ooc: tags will be slower than normal for me but I shall get to them as soon as I can!]

[So there's all this snow. Snow is a novel thing for Vitalia, and a troublesome one, because 1: it's uncomfortably cold and 2: it kills plants. But Srta. Ruiz is not one to take this affront lying down! No, she has been cultivating things! Things which are now thriving happily near the treehouse! Things like pretty roses, and lilies, and several fruits! And a plant with fanged, snapping jaws! And a plant that grows eyeballs instead of berries! And a horrible, shriveled black thing that occasionally spits a fireball out in a random direction. (Thankfully that one's range is only about a yard, so there's no damage beyond a blackened circle around it.)

[And in the midst of this is a cheerful and heavily-bundled young lady, inspecting each plant and noting its progress down on a pad of paper, humming as she goes.]

Within those Gardens, time stretches out with little to fill it with, in an endless stream of leisure. After all, food gives itself to you almost without asking, and shelter is freely given. Clothes and other things can be fashioned with a simple trip to collect the very earth of Chaos, and far more safely than the usual methods of calling Chaos into shape.

I am lacking in the usual duties that fill my time. No growing seasons to bless with fecundity, as the Gardens almost care for themselves. No births to bless with prosperous growth in life, and likewise none coming before me to ask for a gift of fertility. Chaos' touch is so light that little call exists to manage it. A mere facade of a temple of Zephyr stands here, its ceremonial halls empty.

But there is one duty that a place still exists for. And that is to bring merriment. So if any occasion arises where you could use my aid on such matters, I will gladly extend it. If you wish to have delicacies, intoxicants, and other things that bring joy upon their imbibement, I can provide. And I will give other kinds of aid as well. I have a great deal of experience with celebrations, festivities, and other such matters.

And, after all, there are many kinds of pleasure to be found.