[ Her fingers skimmed across the tomes, a touch of curiosity in her eyes as she lit on so many of them. That they were frozen meant that Akua wanted something of particular interest. Something that would catch her eye, and give her a thread to weave with the stories she could see laid out before her. She did not have the ability to See yet -- if she ever would -- with no aspects to accompany the fledgling Name that she felt settled within herself, but nothing more than that had made manifest. She closed her eyes, and let her fingers fall upon a book, newer than the others, and she looked at the spine. Something about history, so she reached into her hourglass, and pulled a small pinch of sand free, to blow it upon the book, and watch it shift, and become part of the real world once more.

She pulled it free and settled somewhere to read. Perhaps someone caught her, in the middle of her reading? She looks entranced, but every now and then, her eyes flick upwards, to take stock of the room, and examine the people there. If anyone thought she was not wholly aware of the world around her, they would be sorely disappointed. Painted fingernails scraped across the surface of the book, idle as she read. If someone sat next to her with a book, she would ask: ] Anything interesting in there?

[ Although if there's no book, feel free to start up a conversation. She looks positively comfortable, in boots and long trousers that fit to her legs, an almost chevalier's coat, with many a ruffle and adornment. It's all in red, blood red, and the coat has hearts sewn into the embroidery in it. Her hair is done up in a complicated array of braids at the moment, and there's a soft tinkle of metal on glass, when she moved her head, the pin with her sunbeam bead is obvious in her hair. If one looks close enough and stares into it deeply, they may see something curious, in fact. ]

[ The villainess knew that the plan was to capture sand, and use it to the very best of their abilities. That did not, however, mean that one would need to be so serious, so driven -- or even more importantly: without thought as to what would be the smartest, most efficient way to locate sand, and the spring in her step and the lightness to her motions made her feel... invigorated in this odd world. Akua was one of the foremost sorceresses of her age, after all, and that meant that she would set things together, to make sure that when it happened, someone would fall into her trap. She had once, devastatingly, made a city a monument to her madness, set traps in every room, every crevice, she had pumped so much power into a city, that even once it had been taken elsewhere, to a new land, the echoes that she left in Liesse had remained, years after her death.

She would do so here if allowed. One may catch her setting a ward -- slippery letters in a script that seems to slide out of one's mind, as if comprehending it is impossible, remembering the shapes even more so -- float, as she played with the working, to play with the ice already present, to make one fall into a trap, or encounter a grand explosion. It's still new, in its birth, so approaching is not impossible, and the woman dressed in finery seemed focused on her work as she played with those slippery letters before her.

Perhaps, you find her later, atop a throne of ice, not native to this castle, but built from her own magics, as she sat atop it, out in the courtyard. Had she stationed herself atop a balcony? Why yes, yes she had. She looked down upon the courtyard, with golden eyes considering the spread before her. She does not summon sand foolishly, but if you do tempt her, she may make manifest feral crows of Night -- their bodies pitch black and the cawing reverberated into one's soul, almost like half-feral laughter. Their inky black feathers, if looked at too closely, will draw one in, and make them feel even colder, the chill of a once-present Winter Court settled within their feathers, and their eyes spoke of old, Eldritch things. Of horror, consumption, and the promise of power, if one consumes from others. If it is daytime, it may feel a touch colder, and darker near her, where these crows are made manifest.

If you catch her eye, however, she offers you a challenge, silently, with a tip of her head in greeting. Do you dare? Her eyes ask, and her fingers touch the precious hourglass nestled against the frill at her neck. ]

[ Her feet echoed, in this dark corridor, with the mirrors that littered the pathway, and she felt it, that echo from her feet seemed to reverberate in her bones. It does not take long for the reflection to be made manifest. As much as Akua is a planner, as much as she is smart, and driven, there is an old, now dead part of her that holds such a great Hatred for everything in creation that did not match what she saw for it. She had fashioned herself to take the name eventually: Dread Empress Magnificent, but the woman reflected in this mirror is... only slightly younger than the Akua that walks in these halls, but her face is harder, intense. There is none of the mild amusement or softness that Calamity holds but instead a wave of anger, perhaps directed at Akua, perhaps at whoever dares to interrupt what will surely be a proper duel.

Akua is prepared for it, for she prepares for all things when the Walin-Falme -- two of them, like hairy dwarven gargoyles with bat-wings -- come trundling out from the dark, and her quick workings string one up, while the former Diabolist works to disassemble its presence from this very creation.

The other lurks, ready to strike, but her fingers are ready, coiled, a shard of ice forming in them to deal with the other.

But for all of that, where is their Summoner, she thinks, as she threw the ice at the feet of the other, to watch it slowly start to freeze from the ground up, the other squirming in her weavings, as she pulled its binding apart -- it had not been summoned with an aspect, obviously, or she would have no hope to wrest this free, but if it was a doppleganger, where was she? The beast popped out of existence, before --

Fire lit through the corridor, and Akua had to focus on dodging with a quick-worked shield -- she might need a little help, here. ]

[ If we planned something, and none of these work, please hit me up! I will also create a closed starter if you ask! You can ping me on the Discord, hit me up on my plotting post or on Plurk at hundreds! ]