The Forgotten Ways

A KNIGHT'S HONOR

Sophie normally preferred to read on the internet... with one exception. If it was about knights or medieval times, fiction or nonfiction, she preferred it to be in print. It somehow made it feel a bit more archaic, in a fitting way.

Obviously, she wasn't keeping her hopes up too high. While there were many American books in the school library, translated into Japanese - and actually, a few that were still in English... which she'd have to keep in mind, there were only a few that were about knights, and all she'd seen so far she'd read back home at least once.

The would be knight kept moving, before she saw a book labeled 'Forgotten Chapters of Camelot - Rarely Heard Stories from the Round Table'. She smiled. It sounded unusual, so she reached to get it.

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Kekepania had been having a hard time at the school. She wasn't stupid, at least she didn't consider herself stupid which might have been some level of pride. Still, she just hadn't had the same opportunity that a lot of these other girls had. Her school wasn't as prestigious as this private school, it had been public, it had been in the poor side of town. So she felt stupid. She felt uneducated. That, of all the feelings, could be blamed on somebody else. The trouble is, while she tried, she really did try, to move forward, so much of it confused her. Not to mention the biology class had a coloring book. Were they making fun of her, all of the kids in the class? It felt condescending.

She needed an escape and that usually meant working on her new world. But she wanted to improve herself too. She didn't like hearing anybody say she was stupid. There was enough talk where people thought she couldn't hear. So she had come to the library to find out a bit more about kings and queens. She considered herself an expert on her Hawaiian history but the rest of the world was a bit of a mystery. She had her eyes set on a specific book but was both surprised and slightly troubled to see that she had been beaten too it.

Well, there was no helping it. She'd have to step in. Kekepania lightly tapped the girl's shoulder. "Excuse me, not to be rude or a bother, but I had been hoping to check that book out."

A KNIGHT'S HONOR

Sophie turned her head, before the rest of her body followed suit, after being politely told that the other girl wanted the book. Sophie took out the book anyways, though she held it out towards Kekepania for her to take. Honestly, she could always find something now, and check it out in a couple of weeks. This was a library, not a bookstore: everything would make it back in due time. What she was really interested in was the other girl. There were a couple of copies of Le Morte d' Arthur, the most commonly read book of Arthurian legend.

Kekepania was Asian, from what she could tell; however, she couldn't place the accent, aside from that it didn't sound like any of the Asian ones she'd ever heard - not that she was any sort of expert on Asian accents.

"Oh, this?" she asked, in her own Louisianan drawl, keeping her tone at a level appropriate for a library, and speaking Japanese, despite figuring Kekepania wasn't Japanese, "I mean, if you want it, you can have it. So coming here from L' Morte d' Arthur or Fate?" She giggled a little at her own joke,

Truth be told, Sophie was fishing for information. If she had no clue or responded Fate, then she'd direct her to the main Arthurian legends, and keep the book for herself. If she'd read the main book and was coming back for more, well... that would be very interesting.

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Kekepania took the book and smiled awkwardly. She looked down at the cover and smiled. This was bound to be the sort of thing she was looking for. King Arthur was known all around the world for being a king, so many ideas of how a king ought to behave came from him. Not to mention all his knights and his tables and the whole bit about pulling a sword from a stone, or was it finding it in a lake? She wasn't exactly clear on all the details, they didn't talk about the cool stuff in history class.

But something drew her attention away from the book. The way Sophie talked, it was weird. She'd never heard anyone else at the school talk with that kind of accent before. In fact, it didn't sound Japanese at all, nor did the girl look it. "You're American too, right?" She switched to English. "Somewhere south, I'm thinking." It wasn't a huge surprise, at least, it shouldn't have been. There were kids from all over, of course there were other Americans here. "I think I've heard that accent from some of the tourists who came to visit the islands. I happen to be from Hawaii." She said proudly.

She had no idea what Sophie meant when she asked about where she came from so she ignored it. It sounded like French and Kekepania had no experience in French at all. "Reading about how royalty used to live is fascinating. It really makes you wish for the good old days." She looked down at the book again. None of the wishy washy school work and run down government housing. A huge castle, or giant fort on the mountain that could see all around the island, that was living.

A KNIGHT'S HONOR

It was always a breath of fresh air to hear English. She'd never actually ask or demand the conversation to be held in her native tongue, but it was always nice to hear a bit of home, every now and then. The girl couldn't hel[ but agree with the stranger's comments, that she couldn't help but yearn for the good old days.

The actress switched to English herself "Definitely Give me slaying dragons and rescuing royalty over math any day."  Well, she'd need the good old days, plus the women's rights movement. That was kinda a prerequisite for being a knight and female in the good old days. Probably not a bad idea to have magic potions that were at least as good as modern day medicine. Would sure suck if she got the plague. Preferably, have some iMinstrel or something, so she could listen to music on the go.

So, basically, the good old days, plus the conveniences of this day and age. And as a side note, she'd neglected to say a specific gender for the royalty in question. She'd put two and two together about herself, but that didn't mean she was coming out of the closet soon.

"I'm surprised there's anyone else here that really feels the same. I'm Sophie Daniels." Best to go ahead and give the other girl her last name, for when they were talking in public.

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Kekepania nodded. Obviously the girl agreed, it was plain that the two of them were cut from the same cloth. That cloth being quite a bit older than most cloth. "Oh certainly, certainly. Though science is my weakness. Still, as great as those times were, a good many changes for the better ought to have been instituted, certainly they would have been if somebody more sensible was in charge. An Artura rather than an Arthur perhaps, but Merlin made his choice with what was available." She shrugged. There was a similar lack of female queens in her own native Hawaii, actually probably fewer. It was a major failing that would be fixed in her world.

"I'm Kekepania Kelekolio, oh, Kekepania is my first name." She clarified. Main-landers weren't the sort to recognize which was her given name and which was the surname and here in Japan it mattered for polite conversation. "Are you perhaps blood of that royal linneage? I, myself, am the result of a long line of royalty leading back to Kāne. Of course, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who cares since we became a state. Still, My mother and I care and that must be enough for now." This last part was said with a sad air of resignation. But people would remember the gods and chiefs once her project was done and she could share the true world with everyone.

A KNIGHT'S HONOR

Sophie smiled. Maybe she ought to introduce the girl to 'Fate'. She obviously couldn't disagree with the idea that a few more female knights and (ruling) queens could have been used in the olden days, albeit because it fueled her own personal fantasies as much as anything.

Sophie was a bit surprised by the whole 'princess' thing... before she remembered the rumor that there were a lot of chuuni here. It was probably best to play along with that game, right? It seemed like some fun little roleplay, and if one person was already dwelling in fantasy land, what harm could it do?

"Lady Sophie, knight of House Daniels, and descendant of President Van Buren." she tells her, giving the 'princess' a curtsy, "A pleasure to meet you." Okay, the fact she was a descendant of Martin Van Buren was actually true. The 'knight' thing was a load of crap, no matter how much she wished it was true.

She smiled, "I have to say, it seems that there's quite a variety of people here. I suppose this school attracts all kinds of people." After all, she'd met Misha here before, after all.

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"Oh, the American president?" That was quite a surprise. It wasn't exactly nobility, but presidents were about as close as one could get back home. Certainly there were a lot fewer people who traced their lineage back to such a noble position than those who traced it back to the Kings and Queens of other countries, but America hadn't had as long to make a noble past and lineage. But a knight was a good thing to be and a president was royal enough for his descendants to be knights. It all worked out in Kekepania's head.

She bowed in response to the curtsy, that was only appropriate. "That sounds fascinating. You must know a lot about your ancestor. I must admit, I don't really know a thing about him. He's not exactly the most famous of presidents. No disrespect to him of course. I just remember school focusing on Washington and Lincoln." She thought for a few seconds. Well, there was Jackson and Jefferson because of the money. She really hadn't gotten much out of her history classes. "Yes, the school certainly does. I've rather new so I admit that I've not met any other Americans yet. I'm glad I met one of such high birth and noble manner though."

A KNIGHT'S HONOR

"Well, you know, if every ruler had to be equally learned about, we'd have to spend all our time in history." she told her, before giggling softly, keeping where they were in mind, "Though if it meant 'no math class; I'd be game for that plan." Sophie was no fan of math... and of course, drama, literature, and history were her favorites. Anything that told a story, even one like history. Of course, she preferred tales of the knights of yore, if that wasn't completely obvious.

"Well, I read a biography about him a couple of years ago. I found it in the school library; honestly, I'm surprised they even had it." she told her, "I'm surprised to run into someone with royal blood. Especially someone from the states." It was... possible Kekepania was telling the truth. I mean, Sophie was as related to the Van Burens as she said she was.

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“I guess that’s true.” Kekepania admitted. “But it’s not as if America is like England with a few hundred monarchs over an entire history. The country isn’t all that old.” Back home, they had done some history of Hawaii’s great kings and leaders, so there was a local component to the history education. However, most of the kids at her school were native islanders. The kids at mainland schools probably couldn’t trace their roots in America longer than the US had been around. “I’d rather trade science for more history personally. Math isn’t terrible. As long as nothing interferes with any of my programming and computer classes.”

Kekepania was also surprised to find another person of noble lineage from America, but for her it was less about the noble lineage part of it and more about the American side of things. North America was not exactly known for royalty. “Well there are a lot of elite students around. Both elite in some field or another or elite because of their families.” In her case, it was both. At least, in her own mind. “So I wouldn’t be surprised if we were to meet people a few steps away from the Emperor or European royalty. After all, who wouldn’t want the best for their children, especially when you can afford it.” She smiled as if she hadn’t gotten in on scholarship.

A KNIGHT'S HONOR

Sophie would have to let that be a respectful disagreement. Science was mostly composed of theories and facts she could memorize, whereas math was considerably less 'tangible', so to speak. What she did catch was that she was a programmer.

"Oh? Cool." Sophie told her, "I've been studying theater myself. I've learned how to wield a light blade, of course, but I am also trying to better my ability in stage swordplay." Her use of a 'light blade', of course, was just sport fencing, but she was keeping up the knight pretense, considering this was kinda fun.

She briefly considered pulling the 'impoverished patrician'... or at least that in a relative sense, on the 'can afford it' bit, but she decided against fleshing out her proverbial backstory.

"So, I'm curious.Is there anything you're wanting to program in particular? I mean, beyond just games, like a genre." She was genuinely curious. Sophie wasn't a hardcore gamer, but she did take a bit of interest in video games. She did have quite the variety of interests, after all.

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Theater was interesting, she hadn't done any theater in her life but Kekepania had seen a fair share of television and films. Plus the people in games were actors and actresses as well so she could appreciate that. Though it was surprising to hear that somebody with a lineage as high as president wasn't going into any kind of politics, but then, maybe it was a roundabout way. Kekepania was sure that some president had been an actor before, couldn't remember which one though. Probably could have paid more attention in class but it was too late now.

"I guess the genre would be simulation and exploration. With my birthright given up long ago, I think it was only fitting that I forge new lands for people to settle, but there's, like, no land left so the only world is what you create for yourself." She smiled as she pulled out her phone and pulled up her photo album collection. "Check this out." She held her phone out to Sophie. In it were screenshots of a virtual landscape. There were volcanoes, ocean, fields, forests, the graphics weren't all that good, certainly nowhere near professional. "That's all mine, all original. Someday people are going to play it and experience and help the gods create Hawaii." That was her plan, she did kind of want to know Sophie's as well. "Are you gonna try out for movies and stuff?"

A KNIGHT'S HONOR

True, all the existing land was probably claimed, except temporary sandbars, and apparently some little bit of land wedged between Sudan and Egypt for some reason. She was fairly interested, to be honest.

She smiled, "Really? I might have to visit your new kingdom some time after you get it established." Actually, it did sound like it might be fun. But she also had her reasons why she wanted to go on stage.

"It's sort of why I want to get on stage. Really, the old ways just aren't practiced anymore. The sword lost to the gun a long time ago too. But that really doesn't matter on stage; it can be whenever." Okay, Jeanne wasn't a knight, technically speaking, but she was the best knight ever in pretty much every way that counted.

"I'm going to keep my options open between the stage and the silver screen. I mean, I'd get more exposure and more people watching me with the silver screen, but the stage would be less repetitive, less people telling you to stop and repeat." Sophie explained, "Honestly, both sound fun too." Sophie didn't expect to make it big in either case, but she figured she could at least make a living, right?

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Kekepania smiled with not a small amount of pride. Well of course she wanted to visit, the kingdom was amazing. Well, would be. It would be full of adventure and mystery and excitement and history. It would put Hawaii back on the map. Well, it was on maps but as more than just a few dots in the ocean. The map of important stuff. And that would all be possible thanks to the Queen of it all, herself. "It's coming along nicely." She said in what she considered a modest tone.

She also understood the sadness of a time lost in the past. It was like a kindred spirit was here right in front of her. Jeane was sort of royal, as much as you could hope for from the average American, and she was also wanting some level of regression. It felt nice to be on the same page, that wasn't the sort of thing she often felt back home.

"Do you think so?" Kekepania asked. "I mean, sure the film might take longer, but you're only acting for like, six months. I thought you rehearsed for theater that long and then they toured with the same show for years. That seems way more repetitive than a movie." But then, she didn't really know about theater or movies for that matter, apart from seeing them. The construction of a show was as foreign to her as game programming probably was to Jeane.

A KNIGHT'S HONOR

Sophie thought for a moment. It was true. If she did, she would be playing the same role ad nausem, wouldn't she. At the same time, that... didn't seem all that bad, when she really thought about it.

"Yeah, but, you know,,that actually doesn't sound that bad," Sophie explained, with a smile, "I mean, when you play a role that long... it kinda just becomes your's, right?" The idea of finding one hero to play had some appeal to it. Sophie had more than a few daydreams about knighthood, and integrating the likes of a famous knight as part of them certainly was appealing.

The fact that Kekepania was probably going to keep building on her 'kingdom' and cherish it was so obvious that she felt it needed not even be pointed out.

"So, is there anything you really want to be able to add?" Sophie asked, "Any way you want to really specialize in? Even if it's just an architectural style or something?" Actually, hearing about her new friend's vision for her virtual world sounded pretty entertaining to her. Espeically since it was probably going to be kinda unique, when compared to more 'typical' kingdoms from the Middle Ages.

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Kekepania shrugged. It was all the same to her, acting in movies and plays and all that, all well outside of her skill and comfort zones. But of course, as the conversation shifted back to her own work, Kekepania's confidence grew. It was a subject she loved talking about. Likely to an annoying degree sometimes. "People for sure." She said with a nod. "Being around at creation is one thing, seeing the gods shape the land, having yourself to help guide and adjust, that's all very good but there's no point if it just ends there.

"Where would mythology be without a guiding spirit to bring humans fire and guide their path to invention and marvel?" Or war and chaos if somebody wasn't a good leader, but that sort of person could be ignored. They could be catered to at some later time after their betters were satisfied. "But AI is super difficult, like, I can do pretty good with the landscapes and basic programming and stuff, but it's hard enough programming birds not to fly underwater." She shook her head, she needed more practice and some proper lessons. "I will get it soon, though." She said quickly. Obviously not wanting to show too much weakness on her chosen specialty in case she came off as less than amazing.

A KNIGHT'S HONOR

Sophie nodded. Kekepania had put it in a pretty flowery sounding way, but putting it through gamerese, she figured what the 'princess' said was along the lines of it being one thing just to put together the game environment, another to actually rule it... she thought. Yeah, it was kinda too flowery to easily understand.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did." She smiled a bit. Actually, Sophie entirely believed she would get that down soon. As far as AI's went, birds were pretty simple. It wasn't like it took some super powerful modern engine, just to program flight path and fundamental collision prevention.

Sophie spied another book, though the next one was on Charlemagne. She... admittedly, had read much of him, but he was basically the French King Arthur... from what he'd heard because of an old friend that liked talking about Fate, and had a crush on Astolfo.

She nodded, "Well, I think I found a good book anyways. I guess I'll see you around?"

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It was great to hear some positive feedback from somebody. Back home, other people's eyes would glaze over when she told them about her world and her plans for it. That is, when they weren't pretending not to laugh at her or making fun of her. There was certainly a better class of person at this school and Kekepania was glad to have met somebody who shared that noble lineage and love of those magical days of history. Maybe she could finally have somebody who understood games go for a walk in her world and give some real honest feedback. A queen needed a court and a royal vizier. Hopefully not a super evil one but a nice one who helped.

"Absolutely. It's really great to have somebody to talk to in English. Now I don't have to worry that it gets all rusty." This had turned out great. Plus, she was getting to keep the book on King Arthur. "I'll let you know when I'm finished with this one so you can get it. And if you see me in the dining hall, feel free to join my table." It would be nice to have a friend to eat with as well. She'd spent far too many lunches back home sitting at a table alone.